I Need To Leave This Town
by ForAllMankind
Summary: Four years after receiving his bachelors degree from Harvard, Jimmy Neutron has been suffering from post-grad depression for a long time. But seeing some old friends again might give him the push he needs.
1. Chapter 1 Just another day at the office

**First writing project on here. Feedback would be very much appreciated. If you have ciriticisms don't hold back. I want to make this as good as possible.**

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><p>In a small laboratory in Retroville, scientist Carvey Avid is showing the facilities to a potential investor. They observe Carvey's interns working on an experiment.<p>

Jimmy Neutron, one of the interns, takes a piece of cheese and places it inside a mouse's cage.

"Come on, Jerry. Time to come out." A mouse pops it's nose from the miniature barn in the cage.

Allen, one of the interns, comes up behind Jimmy with a needle.

"The serum's ready." Allen announces.

Jimmy quietly responds "Just give him a second."

Jerry the mouse leaves his barn and nibbles at the piece of cheese. Jimmy gently grabs a hold of Jerry. He carefully handles the mouse to keep it still.

"Alright, you ready Neutron?"

"This is such a bad idea."

"Come on, we're done talking about this. We have a potential investor here right now-"

"OKAY, you're right. Forget I said it. Just be careful with that needle." Jimmy extends his hand to prepare Jerry the mouse for his injection.

In the next room Carvey and potential investor Donald Strych (Eustace's uncle) are observing through the glass window.

Carvey, trying to sound smart, explains the experiment to Donald. "What we do is we take glial cells from human fetuses and we inject them into the mouses brain. The mouse has 12 million glial cells of its own. Right now we're only injecting 300,000 human glial cells so it has a small fraction of human inteligence but is still a mouse in mind."

"Naturally." Donald responds as though he knew what he was talking about even though he's got no fucking clue what Carvey is saying. "Why mice though? Wouldn't it be easier if you did this to monkeys?"

"Well we briefly considered it but we decided not to because of all the potential ethical issues."

"What ethical issues?"

"Well… You know animal rights groups are more sensitive to stuff like that… and it's not worth that trouble… and we also don't want to be associated with that _Planet of the Apes _movie."

"That can't happen, can it?"

"Oh no, that's only a movie. But my idea is if we can make these animals smarter and more productive they'll be much more efficient in ways that machines can't be. People have always been able to train animals, but if we can get them to do more for us… well, just imagine the possibilities. There can be a great need for this."

"But won't people see it as slavery with animals?"

"No, not at all. We might get accused of that but that shouldn't be a problem. As long as there are people in this world that continue to own pets, there's no reason corporations can't have their own. Just tell that to the media, they'll have a hard time justifying it."

Allen injects the serum into the mouse in the most painless way. Once done, Jimmy puts Jerry back in his cage. He takes another piece of cheese from the table. "Here you go buddy, you've earned it."

Donald looks at the experiment fascinated. "Interesting. I'll tell you what, I'll invest you for the next 6 months for $1.5million and we'll see where this goes."

Carvey tries to conceal his expression of joy. "Perfect. Why don't we talk more in my office. I have to talk to these guys for a second."

Donald nods back to Carvey and exits the room. Carvey walks over to the other door and enters the lab.

"Great job guys! You get to keep your jobs for the next 6 months!"

"Fuck yes!" Allen cheers with a happy smile just as big as Carvey's. Jimmy's has a small grin as he's more focused on making sure Jerry's okay.

"Does this mean we're getting more hours?" Jimmy asked.

Carvey's smile fades. "Well… You know I'll let you know more next week. For the next three days I'll hold down the fort on my own. You guys are doing a great job though. Allen, you're doing a great handling the equipment. Jimmy, don't forget to lock the cage. I don't want Jerry to run out again."

There was a previous incident where Jimmy had left Jerry's cage open, only for 5 seconds as he walked across the room to pick up his tablet to take notes. In those 5 seconds, Carvey had walked in with a bunch of plastic tubes and somehow he managed to drop one of the tubes on the floor. And as he stepped on that tube he suddenly lost his balance and fell forward knocking Jerry's cage to the ground and let him run free. Carvey blamed the incident on Jimmy, despite the fact that Jimmy was quickly able to recover Jerry by calling him back through his distinctive, unimpressive whistle call that somehow got the attention of the mouse.

But that's hardly the first time Jimmy has had to deal with Carvey's bullshit. Carvey was nice to Jimmy while he was interning with no pay. It wasn't until Carvey had to pay him that he started giving Jimmy a hard time for no reason. Carvey was a wannabe scientist who had no knowledge and just wanted fame. Financially he depends on a trust fund from his parents which is how he opened this lab. And despite having access to large amounts of money, Carvey has been ripping Jimmy off every check. Jimmy would calculate his own hours and know that he'd be missing $20-30 every check. He addressed the issue before but no matter how many times Jimmy proved it to his boss using basic math Carvey would always deny it and show him the "correct" way to calculate the amound for his check. He was quite miserable at his job, if you even want to call it that considering he only worked 1 or 2 days a week for 4-6 hour shifts. He absolutely hated it, but at least it was something to do.

"It'll be locked." Jimmy replied to Carvey.

"And make sure everything is put back in it's proper place. We can't have investors coming in and seeing a mess." Carvey takes two envelopes out of his jacket. "Here are your checks, guys." Allen and Jimmy grab their checks. "I'll see you guys Monday. Have a good weekend." Carvey walks out of the lab.

Allen waves goodbye. "Bye boss. Have a good one."

Jimmy mutters under his breathe. "Kissass."


	2. Chapter 2 Same Night Every Night

Jimmy continued to get around in his hover car. It wasn't until he went to Harvard that he changed the exterior to resemble a Hummer in order to impress the other college students. Jimmy skipped high school, going directly to Harvard after junior high. Having a car that didn't look like an inflatable boat improved his social status. Whenever a cute girl in his dorm building needed a ride in the Boston area, Neutron was the first guy they'd go to. That hover car had gone through a lot. It had taken his childhood friends on many adventures and it had taken his college acquaintances on the most epic drunk adventures that any college student could've ever possibly had. While there were some nights where Jimmy had fun he never had any close friendships with anyone at Harvard. Most of them used him for his car to get to places far away. He was never able to date anyone because no one would risk dating a minor. He was singled out as the weird guy that was too into science and incapable of being social. Even though he enjoyed his studies at school, emotionally he was a wreck. Harvard was supposed to be the best experience of his life, but it was the loneliest Jimmy had ever felt.

It's been three and a half years since Jimmy graduated from Harvard. When he came back to Retroville everyone he knew was about to leave for college, the only exception being Sheen. It was his last summer seeing any of the kids he grew up with. But he never got the chance to see Cindy because she left the day after high school graduation to take summer classes at Stanford. With only the memory of their childhood rivalry this didn't really bother him at the time. Carl went away to school in Iowa and was getting closer to his dream of working with animals, especially llamas. His parents always went to visit him during school breaks and holidays that he never had a reason to come back to Retroville. Sheen was forced to drop out of high school just before the final semester. Life took a giant shit on Sheen when his dad was arrested for being discovered with a laptop filled with child pornography. With his dad in prison, Sheen had nowhere to go. His Grandma had passed away three years earlier. His mom ignored the existence of him and his father. Only his uncle Miguel was able to help by giving Sheen some money every month between the range of $100-300 depending on how much he felt like sending. Although his uncle has continued to do it all these years it wasn't enough for Sheen to support himself. He had to drop out of school and became a full time dishwasher at The Candy Bar to cover his living expenses. Because he dropped out his relationship with Libby slowly faded away until they peacefully broke up when she went away to college.

Right now it's 11:30 at night. Sheen sits on the curb playing an Ultralord game on his iPhone as he smokes a cigarette. He used to be incredibly fit back in the day as the star quarterback of Retroville high. But since high school he's really let himself go. He had gained so much weight he was practically obese. He never properly trims his beard. Physically, he was a mess.

Jimmy pulls up the hover car to the curb. Sheen slowly get up and approaches the car. As he opens the door, Jimmy stops Sheen from getting in. "Dude, seriously! Please put that out for the millionth time. I'm tired of my car reeking of cigarettes."

"My bad, dude." Sheen says without worry.

"Fucking hell, I figured you'd get it by now."

Sheen takes one last drag from the cigarette before he throws it on the ground and gets in the car. Jimmy drives off.

"Do you have that $10 for the ticket?" Sheen asked.

"I'll cash my check tomorrow. You'll get it then."

"Cool. This Ultralord movie is gonna be the best one."

"Hopefully it'll be cool. But they'll never top the original."

"Whatever, we'll find out Wednesday. Can't wait to be in line for that midnight showing. Oh, by the way are you working that day?"

"I don't know yet. I work Monday though."

"You know what, don't worry about it. Carl can wait with me. What time you picking him up?"

"First thing tomorrow morning."

"Awesome man. It's been too long since the three amigops have gotten together." Jimmy smiled a little thinking back on when Carl came up with that name. Sheen became overwhelmed by nostalgia. "Man, I really miss the old days. We should go on another adventure when Carl's here."

"Dude, please don't get all nostalgic on me."

"Dude, we have two weeks to do it while he's on winter break. I can get a day off from work. And you're pretty much never working-"

Jimmy interrupted. "I have a job. I work."

"When you work more than a day a week and you make more money than me then I will _acknowledge _that you have a job." Sheen said _acknowledge _as though it were a big word for him to use. "Seriously dude, why don't you just quit. You can easily get a job at NASA or just start your own company. You gotta look for a job-"

Jimmy interrupted again. "I have been looking." That was a lie. "You know, it's tough. Not everyone's getting jobs right out of college."

"You're one of the youngest people ever to graduate from college. Hell, I think you're the youngest guy to graduate from Harvard."

"Whatever."

"You know, we go through this every time. You're always complaining about how you hate work and you should get a better job or you talk about how you want to start building inventions again but you don't for some reason. Seriously dude, stop complaining."

"You're one to talk. You keep talking about how you want to start going to school or how you have to break up with your girlfriend and move out but you don't."

"Once again, I can't afford to start school because I don't have the money for it. I can't get financial aid because I have to have a GED in order to qualify and I don't have that because I didn't graduate from Retroville high. And yeah, I'm in a shitty relationship but it's best if I stay because it's easier on me financially if we both pay rent."

Sheen's iPhone started ringing with the ringtone of the musical theme of the wicked witch from "The Wizard of Oz." It was his girlfriend Alicia. Sheen unhappily answers the phone. "Hey… Yeah, I'm on my way back right now… I don't know, I can ask him." Sheen looks to Jimmy. "Tell her I said 'yes'" Jimmy responded. Sheen got back on the phone. "Yeah, he's cool with it. Do you want burgers or tacos?… Alright, I'll see you in a bit." Sheen hangs up.

Jimmy always drove Sheen back from work and almost every night it was the same. They would casually talk about whatever music, video games, and TV shows were popular with "Ultralord" being a common subject. They'd talk about work, Sheen's relationship and basic life problems. They'd talk about the things they'd want to do and then they'd always criticize the other for not doing what they want. After that, Sheen would pick up some food at a 24 hour drive thru for him and Alicia. It was always the same. They were both tired of it but they were both too lazy to do anything about it.

After getting food, Jimmy dropped off Sheen at his apartment and they parted ways for the night. Jimmy drove back home listening to music like he always did, at this moment listening to "Asleep" from The Smiths. When he got home he pulled up in his driveway. He made a quick glance across the street where he saw Sasha Vortex and someone else unpacking their car this late at night. It was too dark to see who the other person with her was. 'Maybe Cindy's mom went on a trip with her new boyfriend or something' he thought. He got out of the hover car and went inside.

Jimmy entered his house and went straight upstairs. He walked past his mother's bedroom where the light on Goddard's forehead dimly lit the rest of the room. For years Goddard has slept comfortably at the foot of Judy's bed.

Jimmy entered his bedroom. The lights stayed off. He went to his computer and browsed through email and facebook. After seeing nothing worth his time he closed his laptop. Across the street he noticed a light suddenly turned off. He wasn't paying attention to where in the house the light came from but it just got his attention. Could've been Cindy's bedroom, he thought. he didn't really care to think about it much more than that.

Jimmy got up from his desk, dove forward and passed out the moment he landed on his bed.


	3. Chapter 3 What Mom Wants

At 7 in the morning, Judy Neutron sat in the kitchen wearing hospital scrubs while she was reading the newspaper. Goddard poured a cup of coffee for her, extended his head towards the table with coffee in mouth and set it on the table. "Thank you, Goddard" Judy said with a smile.

Her marraige with Hugh fell apart about 3 years after Jimmy had left for Harvard. It turned out that the frequent "business trips" were anything but. Judy became suspicious and followed him to Florida. That's when it ended badly. She caught Hugh having unusual sexual acts with another woman. They were both wearing duck costumes doing… well, where do you even begin to describe it. Let's just say for Judy it was traumatic. They managed to end it peacefully though and agreed not to ever tell Jimmy what really happened. Since Judy needed to make money to keep the house she became a nurse at Retroville General Hosptial. For a single mother who was still supporting her 22 year old son she wasn't doing bad at all.

Jimmy came down the stairs with bed head wearing an old, worn out white t-shirt with a faded Atom symbol and pajama bottoms. Over the years his head grew proportionate with his body. His hair was now cut in a normal style.

"Morning" Jimmy said to Judy with a yawn.

"Good morning" Judy responded back. "Why are you up so early?"

"I gotta pick up Carl from the airport."

"Oh." Judy reacted. Jimmy grabbed a cereal bowl and a box of Cheerios. Goddard poured milk into his bowl for him. "Thanks boy." With breakfast in his hand, he took a seat at the table.

"How late are you working?" Jimmy asked Judy.

"I have a double tonight so I'll be home late. There are leftovers in the fridge."

"That's okay. I'll probably just eat out with guys and catch up."

Judy quickly changed the topic of conversation. "Have you thought about looking for a job?" she asked with that mom-type grin knowing he should be looking but wasn't.

"I have a job."

"Only for 1 day a week."

Jimmy smiles a little bit to make it seem like everything's okay. "Hey, it's a job."

Judy gives him a look that says give-me-a-break. "Well you need to make more money. You have to move out you know."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm working on it."

"Well work on it harder. I'm sure if you ask Goddard he can find something online for you to apply."

Goddard reacts eagerly. Jimmy looks back to Goddard. "I'm fine, boy. I can do it myself."

"Well there's no reason for him not to. You can't mope around the house for the rest of your life you know. You have to do something."

"I will mom" Jimmy responded tired of hearing his mom talk about this all the time.

Judy sighs. "God, what am I going to do with you? My son who has managed to build wonderous things and discover alien civilizations in other galaxies should be making history by now. At the very least you should have a real job."

Jimmy gives her a goofy smile. "I love you mom."

"Yeah, sure" Judy responded apathetically. Almost every day they'd have this same conversation. She was getting tired of seeing her son not do anything with himself. She finished her coffee and got up. "Well I've gotta go. Have a good day with your friends, honey."

"Bye mom."

On her way out, Judy pets Goddard and scratches his metalic muzzle. Goddard reacts playfully. "Good boy. You watch the house while I'm gone." Goddard smiles and nods back to her. Judy leaves the kitchen. "Bye!" Judy said on her way out the front door. "Look for a job!" she added.

After hearing the front door shut, Jimmy went right back to eating his breakfast. Goddard looked away from the front door and towards his creator, sitting there eating his cereal. He stood there for a few seconds just thinking as he looked at Jimmy. Goddard lifted his front right paw about to take a step towards Jimmy but then he stopped. He stood still thinking for a moment but Goddard ultimately put his foot down and just left them room.

By no means were things bad between Jimmy and Goddard. Goddard had always been Jimmy's loyal companion. But they were no longer as close as they used to be. Jimmy had left Goddard behind when he went to Harvard so he could be more useful helping out his parents. In his time at Harvard Jimmy never came back home, keeping himself busy taking extra classes durring the summer and winter. Goddard had become closer to Judy. When she and Hugh divorced it was Goddard who was there to comfort her. When Jimmy came back from Harvard he and Goddard were both very happy to be reuninted. But something changed. Jimmy changed. He seemed out of it on a daily basis. His passion for science was not what it used to be. While Goddard did everything he could to try to motivate him, Jimmy just wasn't receptive to any of it. Over time Jimmy seemed to get worse. By no means was he ever suicidal, just very down. Every once in a while Jimmy would take Goddard for a walk. Sometimes they'd have fun and Jimmy would confide details of his life or thoughts that he was having on whatever was going on. But it wasn't the same as before. Jimmy and Goddard still regarded each other as friends, but they acted more like acquaintences living under the same roof. 

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><p><strong>Hope you guys are enjoying the story. If you are I'd really appreciate your feedback to know if you're interested in me continuing. Even if you have problems with it don't hesitate to put your criticisms out there.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4 Picking Up Carl

Dallas international airport was just an hour away and also the closest airport to Retroville. There was no traffic on the way. Although the hover car can fly and accelerate at much faster speeds than a normal automobile, Jimmy hardly took it out to fly anymore. He pretty much forgot that it could. But he enjoyed the length of the drive. It helped him relax.

At the airport Jimmy was waiting outside baggage claim when Carl walked out the gate and headed towards his childhood best friend. Carl was quite tall, about 6 foot 5 inches. Working outdoors with animals had caused him to do some heavy lifting resulting in him becoming more fit. Asthma was still a problem though. He was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. He had a beard and wore a cowboy hat. Carl still wore the same glasses but he pretty much looked like a farmer.

Carl continued walking up to Jimmy with a big smile, happy to see him. Jimmy extended his hand for the usual hand slap followed by a quick fist bump. Carl rejected it. "Get that away. Come here man." Carl came in for a man hug, catching Jimmy off guard for a bit. "Man, it's been too long." Carl broke the hug. "It's great to see you, Jim. How have you been, man?"

Jimmy had a more restrained smile but he was happy to see his old friend. "Not bad. I'm doing okay."

"Well we got two weeks to talk about it. Let's go."

It was a very busy morning at the airport. Cars were backed up on the way out. "Damn, this is gonna take a while" said Carl, frustrated at the sight of cars that ahead. "Whatever happened to the hover car?"

"We're in it."

"What? Well then why don't you fly out of here?"

The question caught Jimmy off guard. He wasn't sure how to answer it. There was no way of justifying it. "I don't know, Carl. It's been a long time since I've been up flying." He said lacking confidence.

"Are you kidding? Retroville is an hour away. We fly now we can be there in 5 minutes."

"Who are you and what have you done with Carl Wheezer?" Jimmy jokingly responded. "The Carl I knew was always uncomfortable flying and would barf most of the time."

"I just flew by plane and I still hate flying. I barfed a couple times. I still can't help it. But what about Mr. Science who's all about technological advancement. You sure you're Jimmy? The Jimmy I knew would've flown us out of here."

"Touche."

"Hey, I don't mind flying if it gets us back faster. Unless you're not comfortable."

"No, no problem not at all." Jimmy was silent for a second. Carl looked back at him and gestured to start moving. "There are barf bags in the glove box if you need them."

"I'll be fine. I puked enough on the plane."

With the push of a button the engine suddenly began to hum a little louder. Jimmy unlatched the locked position the steering wheel in order to pull it back and forth. "Hold on to your seat belt." The engines hum stopped building up and remained steady. It was ready for takeoff. The car slowly began to float up into the air. It got the attention of everybody still stuck in traffic. The hover car kept rising and rising until it was above the top of the highest building at the airport. Carl hesitated to look down. He held a tight grip onto the seat. They were clear to fly.

"You okay?" Jimmy asked with a smile.

"Somehow an airplane being much bigger makes it more comforting than this."

"Hey, you asked for it-"

"I know, I know. Just go."

Jimmy floored it forward, going at top speed. It was a bit rocky as they continued to gain altitude. Carl kept breathing slowly to keep himself calm. Once they were high enough the ride smoothed out and Carl calmed down.

"You okay?" Jimmy asked. "You need a bag?"

"No, I'm okay." Carl looked down at the ground taking in the view. "Wow, it's beautiful."

"No good views from the plane?"

"They put me in an aisle seat. You know it's a lot smoother in here than the plane actually. At least I don't have the TSA giving me a hard time."

"What?" Jimmy asked concerned. "Did they stop you?"

"They pulled me aside for 10 minutes and asked me questions about why I was going to Retroville. I told them and then they let me get on the plane after asking the same question 50 times."

"Did they…" Carl looked at Jimmy seeing the look on his face.

"No! No, they didn't do that. I was never in a room, they just asked me questions to the gate. I guess the beard looks suspicious. I hope I don't get stopped again flying back."

"I can give you a ride. It's only about 45 minutes flying from home. And you save money on a plane ticket."

"Yeah, that'd be great. I'd really appreciate that."

"I should've thought to offer a ride last week."

"My parents paid for the plane ticket anyway before I told you I was coming back."

There was silence for a moment. Jimmy broke it by asking the first question. "So what've you been up to. You still with Elke?"

"Yeah. She's back in Sweden right now spending Christmas with her parents. Actually we both just got job offers as animal attendant's at the same zoo."

"You going to take it?" Jimmy asked.

"We already did. They're willing to work around our schedules for the last semester but it's a good start for me and for her."

"Dude that's great. I'm impressed you two managed to stick together this long."

"Can I tell you something if you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Sure, absolutely."

Carl had a big smile on his face before he answered. "I think I'm going to ask her to marry me."

"For real!?"

"It's been long enough. I think I'm ready to ask. It's killing me to wait this long."

"What's with the hold up?"

"I figure it'd be a nice graduation present. That's how I want to propose."

"You do know Christmas is coming up, right?"

"No, it's too late. She's already back home with her parents. And I still have to find the ring. But I think I'm going to ask her. I just don't want to add pressure before school ends?"

"How would you put pressure on her?"

"I thought about it and with this new job and the final semester of classes I don't wedding preparations to get in the way of finishing school. Even if we decide to wait she'll still think about it. You know how excited she gets."

"Well congratulations Carl. I hope it works out."

"Thanks Jim." There was another long period of silence until Carl finally broke it. "So how about you? You with anyone?"

"In Retroville? It's not the ideal place to meet women Carl, you know that. Everyone we knew left before I had the chance to do anything."

Carl looked at him in sympathy. "Yeah, I'm sorry Harvard didn't work out for you."

"It worked out fine. I graduated top of my class."

"You know what I mean."

Jimmy took a deep breathe. "Yeah I know."

"It's a shame you left when you did. Most of us thought you and Cindy Vortex had a chance."

The mention of Cindy brought thoughts back as though it were some distant memory. "Vortex? Are you kidding? We were always at each others throats."

"Yeah, but you two were becoming nicer to each other."

"Well I guess we'll never know will we. That's in the past now, there's no point in digging for it."

There was another 10 seconds of silence till Carl asked "Have you even heard from her lately?"

"I haven't talked to her in 8 years. I don't think she's posted on Facebook in years."

Silence again. Carl looked around the car as though something were missing. "Hey, Jim?"

"Yeah."

"Do you-" He struggled to ask his question. "Is Goddard still around?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's just he's always with you. I was worried he might have died for a second."

"No, he's fine. He's back at the house."

"Good. That would've been terrible if he died."

"He's an artificial dog, Carl. If he blows up he can put himself back together. Goddard's going to live for a long, long time."

They began making their descent to Retroville. Unfortunately Carl had to use the barf bags as they made their way down. They landed on the street in their old neighborhood. Jimmy pulled up in his driveway.

"You spending the day at home?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, I've got some catching up to do with my parents. I'll see you and Sheen tonight."

"Okay, later Carl."

Carl took his backpack and suitcase and walked across the lawn to his old house next door. Jimmy heard the door open followed by the sound of Carl's mom shrieking with excitement due to her sons return. Jimmy entered his house to see Goddard sitting on the couch streaming an episode of "Courage the Cowardly Dog" on Netflix. Having nothing better to do, Jimmy went to take a seat next to him. Goddard made some room for Jimmy to take a seat.


	5. Chapter 5 Three Amigops Reunited

Being that he barely worked more than a couple days a week, Jimmy had a lot of free time. If Goddard hadn't done all the work around the house he would take it upon himself to do the dishes, vacuum the floor, take the garbage out, anything to keep himself occupied. He learned how to cook in order to keep himself active. He actually wasn't that bad at it. But for the most part Jimmy spent his days at the house incredibly bored. He'd watch movies, TV shows, or science specials. He'd play games on XBOX or just surf the web for the latest news related to science. Sometimes he'd even take to discussions on message boards and share his own theories. But even then that wasn't enough to keep himself active throughout the day. He always felt restless and every afternoon he'd end up taking a long 2-3 hour nap. He knew oversleeping wasn't good for him but he just couldn't help it. He'd start to feel a bit happier when he was doing housework. Hell, even when he worked at Carvey's lab he was just happy to be doing something. But when it came to his free time he just had way too much and he wasn't putting it to any productive use like he knew he should.

By 6pm Jimmy had been sleeping for almost 4 hours. He woke up to his cell phone ringing. Sheen was the caller. "Hello."

"Hey, I just got off. I talked to Carl. You ready?"

Jimmy yawned and then answered. "I gotta take a shower."

"Okay, well he told me he'd head over to your place in a bit. I'm taking the bus back home right now to change out of these work cloths."

"Alright. Um, do you want to meet up by your place?"

"I was actually thinking we could stop at JT's Bar."

"You know Carl can't drink."

Sheen answered annoyed "Yeah, know he won't drink. But they have great burgers and he hasn't ever eaten there."

"Are you walking there?"

"I'll call you when I'm ready and if you're not on your way I'll just walk."

"Alright, I'll see you later."

"Later." Sheen hung up. Jimmy, lacking energy, got up with difficulty. He stretched his arms and walked over to his bathroom to take a shower.

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><p>About an hour later, Jimmy and Carl walked into JT's Bar. Like a regular Friday night the place was full. It was a typical bar with a couple of pool tables. Sheen saved a table and waved to them. He already ordered a pitcher of beer and some chicken tenders.<p>

"CARL!" Sheen called out with a smile.

"Woah" Carl said to himself. Having not seen Sheen in a long time he was surprised by his new physical appearance.

Sheen walked across the room. "Wow, look at you man. You look good. You look like you've really been working out."

"Yeah" Carl said trying not to offend. "You also look different."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I got fat. No need to be awkward. Let's get it out of the way."

"Just… you look different, that's all. How've you been?" Carl asked.

"You know, working a lot. Getting by. Let's eat something. You want a beer?"

"I don't drink. I have some weed on me though."

"Woah, really? Since when did you become a hippie? You gonna start playing campfire songs on guitar too?"

"It actually relaxes me and I don't get a reaction to it."

"Nice! Let's go outside, I know a spot in the alley." Sheen turns to Jimmy. "Jimmy you wanna order this man a cowboy burger?" Sheen turns back to Carl. "It's the best burger here. You gotta try it. I'm buying."

"Yeah, sure."

"Great! Jimmy we'll be right back."

The two left Jimmy at the table. He ordered food for Carl and himself and drank a pint and a half before Sheen and Carl came back. They stayed and talked for a couple of hours. Jimmy was buzzed, Carl was high, and Sheen was completely cross-faded. Mostly it was Carl talking about how everything was going well for him. Every time Carl asked Sheen about how things were with him he would steer the conversation towards games or TV till it eventually went back to Carl talking about himself. Jimmy threw in a few remarks here in there but wasn't very active in the conversation.

"Anyway what about you, Jim?" Carl asked. "What new inventions have you worked on."

Before Jimmy could answer Sheen burst out into laughter. Carl was puzzled.

"This guy, man." Sheen drunkenly spewed his words out. "This fuckin' guy hasn't… he hasn't _built _anything since… I think since he first left town."

"What?" Carl looked back at Jimmy confused. "Why not?"

Jimmy was about to respond but Sheen cut him off. "And the lab hasn't been open in a long time. And he doesn't have a job. I don't know how to help this guy out. I mean it's fucked up, right?" Sheen puts his arm around Jimmy. "I'm worried about you bro. You're supposed to be the one person from our grade that made it big and you're not doing shit-"

"HEY!" Jimmy angrily shouted. He pushed Sheen away from him that he fell out of the chair.

Carl tried to calm things down. "HEY, take it easy."

Sheen slowly got back up still slurring his words a bit. "Just saying you can do better, Jimbo. But don't worry. The three amigops are to save you, pal." Sheen turned to Carl and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Remember that name buddy?"

Carl chuckled a little bit. Jimmy picked up his pint and took a gulp.

"So you don't have a job?" Carl asked.

"I do." Jimmy answered. Carl gave a puzzled glance to Sheen who had the grin of a drunk. "It's temporary. It's part time at an up and coming lab here in Retroville. The pay's low but for now it's something. Before I go somewhere else. It's a good start."

"How long have you been there?" Carl asked.

Jimmy was straightforward. "Three years."

"That doesn't really sound temporary."

Jimmy began to get agitated. "Hey, it's a good start for me-"

Carl tried to calm things down again "Alright, no problem. I believe you-"

Sheen interrupted. "And he's only working 10 hours a week for minimum wage."

Jimmy was clearly upset. Carl didn't bother asking more questions on the subject. Sheen left the table to go to the bathroom. Carl changed the subject. "You haven't worked on any new inventions?"

"Nope." Jimmy took another drink.

"That's too bad. I'm not sure what to do for winter break now."

"Why?" Jimmy asked.

Carl took a few seconds before responding. "I don't know. This might sound stupid but I guess I was just hoping you'd take us out on expeditions or have us help you with experiments like the old days. This just seemed like the last chance to do that. It's stupid though, I was just feeling nostalgic I guess."

Jimmy didn't know how to respond. It was quiet for about 30 seconds till Jimmy saw a free pool table. "Hey, you wanna play?" Jimmy asked pointing at the table.

"Yeah, Iet's do it." They both got up and went to play a game.

* * *

><p>For the rest of the night Jimmy and Carl played pool while Sheen tried talking to girls at the bar (and making an ass out of himself). Jimmy and Carl had cut themselves off but Sheen continued drinking beer after beer.<p>

After midnight Sheen paid the check and they left. They walked around town reminiscing. At every corner memories flooded back of how Jimmy almost destroyed the town. Eventually they ended up at the park by the lake. Sheen was about to pass out on the bench.

Carl was concerned "Oh no, come on Sheen. Stay awake."

"I got it covered." Jimmy pulled out his wallet. He took a ziplock bag filled with about 10 green pills. He placed one pill in Sheen's mouth and made sure he swallowed it before falling asleep. "He'll be fine in 5 minutes."

"What was that?" Carl asked.

"Sober-up pill. I made it in college. If you get too drunk at parties you can drive back home safely. It takes about 3-5 minutes to kick in. Best part, no hangover."

"Wow, so many people would kill to have that. You should be selling those."

"Tried it. The FDA wouldn't approve for ethical reasons."

"What?"

"They figured it would just make people drink more and the pill can't do anything to fix brain cells. That and it only helps the mind, not the body."

"That sucks." There was silence as the two spent some time looking around at the empty park. Carl broke the silence. "So what're you doing at this lab you work at? Anything interesting?"

Jimmy thought quickly before answering. Knowing Carl was an animal lover he didn't want to bother him with the details. He knew Carl would be upset to hear them. Even Jimmy was betraying his own morals by supporting the work. He knew he should quit but it was the only excuse he had to work.

"Just typical stuff, you know how it is." Jimmy answered. "You've seen the work I did back when we were kids."

"Yeah." Carl accepted. He figured the details would've bored him anyway so he didn't ask any more questions. "Things really changed." Jimmy turned to Carl noting the serious tone in his voice. "It's crazy seeing all this again and everything feels the same but it's different. I kind of miss it but also I'm really glad I left. It's really bittersweet, you know."

Jimmy was quiet for a bit. "Not really. When I was at Harvard all I could think about was coming back."

"But you got to go to college early. Harvard at 14, that's a big deal. It's what you wanted the whole time when you got accepted."

"It was. But I really missed everyone, you know. I missed you guys. But there I couldn't get along with anybody. Everyone saw me as this little kid and the only way they would hang out with me is if I gave them a ride."

"Come on, it wasn't that bad."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of going there. And it was kind of fun. But it just wasn't the same without you guys. Everyone at Harvard was having fun while I was still growing up. If I could go back I'd probably choose to stay here."

"You know you can do that, right? You built a time machine."

Jimmy's tone changes as he tried to lighten things up a bit. "No way. Things are going great for you in Iowa. I can't mess with the timeline and possibly ruin your life or anyone's life." Carl chuckled a little. "Anway I destroyed it years ago."

There was a long silence between the two.

"Well, you know we're always here for you, Jim. You can even come up to Iowa. I can find you a job there. There's a lot of cool people you'd get to meet."

"If nothing happens I'll let you know." Jimmy lied.

They both turned around when they heard Sheen groan. "Ow, my leg." Sheen complained. Jimmy pushed a button on the keys for his hover car. They both helped Sheen sit up. Eventually he got up and began walking. Soon the hover car arrived and landed at the park. First Jimmy flew Sheen back home. They made plans to meet at JT's Bar for lunch. They said goodnight and and flew back home.

* * *

><p>Jimmy had gone upstairs straight to his room and turned the lights on. As he went to take a seat in front of his laptop he saw that the room across the street had the lights on and the curtains were open. But most important, he saw a female figure facing the window covered in a towel. But the instant he sat down she had dropped the towel. She was looking in his direction and eye contact was immediately established. Jimmy put brought his head down on his desk right away. Even though he wasn't staring long enough to admire the body in its perfect form he had seen enough in a brief second for it to be embarrassing for both them. Not only that, he knew who it was to. "What the hell is she doing here?" After a while he looked up to see if it was safe. The curtains were closed, he was in the clear. Instead of going back to his laptop, Jimmy elected to leave it there and just call it a night. He continued to feel bad about what just happened as he drifted to sleep.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>For those of you that are sticking with this story I appreciate you taking your time to read it. Don't hesitate to review the material. I'm curious to see what works and doesn't work for everyone.<strong>

**Also being that I have other responsibilities in real life my goal is to post at least one new chapter a week. So far it looks like you can expect a new chapter roughly every Saturday or Sunday. Each chapter so far has had an average of 1,500-1,750 words and that'll probably be the average length of each chapter in the future. Right now the final word count looks like it could be around 50-60,000 so there will be quite a few weeks ahead before this one ends.**

**Next week's chapter will be a very description/thought heavy piece where our lead character does a lot of reflecting. Might not be the most entertaining of the bunch but the entire set up for the story should be out of the way and things should start to pick up after so you all get a better idea of where things are going.**

**Have a week!**


	6. Chapter 6 Jimmy Ponders

As great as it was seeing each other again, the rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. Like the first night they spent most of the time hanging out at JT's Bar. They mostly walked or drove around town. Carl and Sheen reminisced a lot while Jimmy hanged back looking at his phone the whole time. On Sunday afternoon Jimmy was so bored he lied about feeling sick and needed to go home and rest. He arrived back home to see Goddard cooking using the retractable hand he kept in stored in his body. With nothing to do, Jimmy instinctually went to the TV.

10 minutes later Goddard finished cooking and barked over to Jimmy who was still browsing through the Netflix catalogue, Jimmy slowly got up and walked over to the kitchen table. There was a plate with steak, green beans, pasta, and a can of Purple Flurp. "Thanks boy" Jimmy said as he took his seat and began to eat. Goddard quietly left the room and laid down next to the coffee table. Jimmy slowly went through each bite as he looked out the window in deep thought admiring the early sunset. It was still light out but the moon was visible in the sky. Jimmy's gaze was focused on it. He thought about what Bro-Bot might be up to. He thought about what else could be happening outside the solar system. What other galaxies were out there. Even though he knew of the Yokians, the Gorlocks, and many other species out there, he was thinking about everything that had yet to be discovered by the human race. Thinking about them got him to think about his childhood. He then looked down to the clubhouse and thought about how things were back then and how different everyone is now. He thought about Cindy, wondering if they would still act the same should their paths cross again. Who was he kidding? Given the events of the night before of course things wouldn't go well.

Jimmy took a bite and then looked over to Goddard. He thought about the time he first built him when he was 8. When he moved to Retroville he didn't have any friends so he decided to build himself one. Goddard turned out to be Jimmy's most successful invention and still is to this day. He thought about how Goddard was there for every adventure he had. He thought about how loyal Goddard had been to him, his family, and his friends. Jimmy looked over at Goddard quietly laying there. He began to feel guilty for not being appreciative enough for what Goddard had done for him and his mother over the past 4 years. Goddard cooking him dinner was something he was just used to having done for himself. He briefly had the thought that he shouldn't care. After all, Goddard was a robot and had to do what Jimmy said. But Jimmy couldn't find it in himself to think that way. Despite him being artificial he knew Goddard cared on some level.

"Hey Goddard!" Jimmy called out across the house. Goddard slowly lifted his head and turned it around. His torso stayed still. "Do you wanna go for a walk?" Goddard lifted his head up slightly. "Right now? I can finish eating this later." Goddard half excitedly jump up and walked over to the door. Jimmy put his plate in the fridge. Goddard waited by the door while Jimmy picked up his jacket from the closet. As he was putting it on the walked out the door.

* * *

><p>Jimmy and Goddard were alone at the park. They sat on a bench with a beautiful view of the moon as the sun set on the other side. As he looked at the moon he thought about what he should do with his future. He knew he needed to do something. It wasn't like he was sulking on purpose all these years. He had tried many times to get funding from investors but every time something went haywire before he had a chance to make a demonstration. After Harvard he felt as though his name was blacklisted by the scientific community. He struggled to sell the designs of his old inventions. Eventually he figured no one would have use for any of them and gave up trying to profit from some of his old work. He tried coming up with new ideas but creatively he was dry. For someone so smart he felt like he was the worst scientist in the world. The gap between his successes and failures could circle the Earth a dozen times. He thought nothing of it when he was a kid, but by now he figured he would've gotten smarter and be less of a screw up.<p>

Jimmy looked over to Goddard who was staring over that horizon. At the moment he extended his hand and pat him on the head. Caught off guard, Goddard looked back at Jimmy perplexed at first. Jimmy let the tiniest bit of a smile return to Goddard. Goddard didn't react. Jimmy then pulled his hand away, set it back on the bench, and looked back up. He wasn't sure why he was compelled to pet Goddard and a little disheartened by the lack of a reaction. He hadn't petted Goddard in years. It hurt Jimmy to think how much things had changed. He then felt a cold, wet metallic piece rub up against his hand. Jimmy instinctually pulled his hand away. It was Goddard licking him with his tongue. He looked up at Jimmy smiling with his tongue hanging out. Jimmy smiled back. He put his hand back down and Goddard rested his snout on it. It felt good being reminded that they were on good terms. Not that they never were. But over the years he did question it.

In the empty park, Jimmy heard the sound of footsteps approaching. It was pretty dark out now but he saw someone running in a black track suit with pink shoes. As the person got closer he noticed the long blonde hair. The runner came close enough that he instantly recognized that face. Suddenly eye contact was briefly made. Jimmy turned his head away and gazed straight up at the stars. He could hear the footsteps begin to move fast. Once they had passed him he looked back down and saw the runner speeding in the other direction. He knew who it was. She probably recognized him as well. They made brief eye contact, no mistake about it. Given that she didn't stop to say "hi" and the fact Jimmy heard her speed up to get away from him faster led him to conclude she definitely didn't want to see him. Friday night's incident definitely wasn't helpful. Jimmy turned to see Goddard giving him a smart-aleck look. He opened his chest for the monitor to turn on. Jimmy reached for it and shut it right away. "I don't want to hear it." Goddard whined a little. "Come on, let's go." Jimmy got up and the two made their way back home.

* * *

><p>When he got home he heated the rest of his dinner and finished it. He spent the rest of the night playing GTAV on his PS3, not thinking at all about what happened over the weekend. Despite the small bit of comfort he had from Goddard, it was as though things went right back to the way they were before they went to the park.<p>

At around 9:30pm Jimmy's phone began to vibrate. He paused the game and reached for his phone and saw he had a text message.

Carvey: _I need you all to come in early tomorrow. Can you make it by 7?_

Suddenly Allen joined in on the group text.

Allen: _Can't. I have class in the morning. I'll be there at 3._

Jimmy: _I'll be there._

Carvey: _Great. Set up the maze when you get here. Be careful with the equipment._

Jimmy silently mimicked that last part of the text in mockery. He turned off the game and went to bed early. He figured he had to if he was going to make it to work at 7.

Given the events of Friday night, Jimmy made sure to enter his room with the lights off this time. He didn't care if he saw her naked again. He just didn't want to be caught like a creep. Though he had to admit to himself he wouldn't mind getting a longer look… NO! Even then his morals wouldn't allow for that. He was going to close his blinds but when he saw her window he didn't had to. She had already taken precaution. All he could see was the light coming through her curtains. He put on his night shirt and pajama bottoms and fell asleep quickly.


	7. Chapter 7 First Trials

Jimmy walked out the front door with his lab coat hanging over his shoulder ready to go to work. On his way to his car Judy pulled up in the driveway and got out of her car.

"Morning" Jimmy said to his mother.

"Good morning." Judy said looking slightly perplexed. "Are you working right now?"

"Yeah. I got a full day."

"Well are they going to have you doing this often?" Judy said with a slight hopeful smile.

"I don't know. Maybe. Depends on if this experiment is successful. We'll see."

"Okay. Well I'm going to sleep. I have to be back at the hospital at 3. Can you remember to take the trash out tonight?

"Don't you normally have Goddard do that?" Jimmy asked.

"I do. But you're not doing anything and you need more work to do around the house."

"I already do stuff-" Judy gave him a disappointing "mom" look. Jimmy backed down. He figured it was a pointless argument to start. "Yeah, I'll take care of it." Judy smiled.

Jimmy got into his car. "Have a good day at work." Said Judy as Jimmy shut the door and drove off.

When he got to the lab it wasn't in the condition he left it in. Jimmy wasn't surprised at all. There was still equipment laying around scattered all over. Carvey was a cheap, hypocritical bastard. _"Make sure everything is put back in it's proper place. We can't have investors coming in and seeing a mess." _He thought back to that last thing he said to Jimmy when he was working. Jimmy had accepted long ago Carvey would always fuck with everything and blame him for his mistakes. He wasn't ever surprised but it would still get under his skin. Jimmy would have borderline violent fantasies of horrible things happening to him in an experiment gone wrong. He tried to stop thinking about them when they started. It wasn't just because it was likely unhealthy, but having all that hate stored up he thought was a waste of time.

Jimmy whistled his distinctive ear-scratching whistle to get Jerry to come out (he never understood why his whistling went away when he was younger). He picks up little blocks of cheese from the fridge and set one in the cage. He then set up Barnes's Maze to conduct the experiment. But as he went back to Jerry's cage he saw that Jerry had yet to eat the cheese left for him. Jimmy went up to the cage and whistled again. Still nothing. Jimmy started whistling a third time. Jerry popped his head out. After hesitating for a bit he started to limp out of the barn. Jimmy noticed right away that Jerry didn't look normal. It was almost as if he was sick or something.

Jimmy grabbed the log to see what happened over the weekend, but of course Carvey didn't write down a single observation. Jimmy's blood really started to boil. Carvey finally got funding for the most ambitious project he'd ever had and still didn't take it seriously. He tossed the notebook aside and went back to Jerry.

Jerry was eating the cheese like he normally would but something seemed different to Jimmy. His behavior was different. The mouse wasn't quickly chomping down every bite. Jerry was chewing slowly, arguably like a normal person would. He wasn't sure if this had something to do with how unhealthy he looked or if maybe it was part of human behavior from the cells injected into his brain. Jimmy made note of his observation in the notebook.

Jimmy waited about 20 minutes till Jerry was finished eating. He didn't even eat all the blocks of cheese Jimmy had set out for him. Once done, Jerry patiently sat down and looked up at the maze as though he were expecting to go in. Jimmy noted the behavior. Naturally changes were expected but it was jarring how different Jerry had become over the past 4 days. Now that he was ready, Jimmy reached into the cage about to gently grab the mouse when Jerry quickly backed a few mice-steps away. Jimmy retracted his hand slightly. This hadn't happened since they first had Jerry. Jerry would always run around out of control and they'd have to trap him in a corner just to catch him. But later Jimmy had proved to be more comforting to the mouse. He would usually wait to willingly be picked up. But now Jerry looked afraid and confused.

Jimmy slowly reached his hand again but Jerry back up and kept starring. Junny was very still. He couldn't decipher what emotions were expressed through the mouse but something in his behavior was different. Jerry just kept staring at him and his hand. Instead of just trapping him in a corner and grabbing him, Jimmy tried something different. He laid his hand on the ground of the cage, palm facing up. After a few seconds, Jerry began to slowly approach the hand, careful with each step. Jimmy didn't move a muscle. He stopped when he reached the hand. Jimmy remembered Jerry would always sniff his hand whenever he held him. In fact he would always sniff everything around him. But this time he didn't recall Jerry sniff once. Jerry just stared at Jimmy. It looked like Jerry was trying to emote something but it was difficult to tell. Suddenly Jerry slowly climbed up on the hand. He made his way to the center of the palm and took a seat. Jimmy was surprised to see this mouse patiently sitting on his hand. After about 15 seconds of nothing happening Jerry looked back to Jimmy. Something about his expression seemed that Jerry was getting impatient. Almost as if he knew what was about to happen and wanted to get it over with. At least that's how Jimmy interpreted it. Jimmy picked up the mouse gently. Jerry calmly sat there as he was being carried till Jimmy sat him down on the maze's platform. Jerry sat at the center and waited. Jimmy noted every observation he had in the notebook and then went back to the maze.

Barnes Maze is a memory experiment usually done on mice or rats. There are 20 black holes in the maze. 19 of them are just black circular holes that are colored in. Only 1 hole is the real way out. The goal is to find the way out. It usually takes 4 or 5 tries to find the way out. Jimmy turns on the light overhead and sets up the video camera to record the experiment. He took a seat in front of the maze and set his notebook down on the table.

As Jimmy watched, Jerry just looks at him. Jimmy had done this experiment many times before on Jerry. There was no doubt the strange behavior was a product of the glial cells but what Jimmy really wanted to know at this point were the thoughts happening in his head. He couldn't tell if Jerry had a look of confusion, anger, impatience, or if he was just braindead. He made a note of the observation. Jerry got tired of sitting there watching him write. He turned around and took causal steps over to his left. Jimmy stopped writing as he saw Jerry walking over to the edge. Jerry then reached what was the escape hole and jumped in. Jimmy noted the first try working out and how he walked over. He took Jerry out of the escape box and had him do it again. Again he just walked over, this time a little faster. The third time he just ran to it to get it done with. Jimmy noted the observation. He rotated the platform to put the escape box in a different place. Jerry still found it on the first try. And it went on again and again and again for about an hour and a half. No matter how many different variations there were Jerry always knew the way out.

Jimmy then brought out the traditional maze. Jerry made it to the other side in less than 5 minutes. He had hit many dead ends but never repeated any mistakes on his way through. The second time Jerry zipped through in less than 2 minutes, having memorized the route. The third time it was less than a minute. Jimmy noted the precision of how Jerry navigated through the maze. He then set up a variation of it. Once again the mouse memorized the route the first time and got faster and faster with each try.

It was now almost 3pm. Jerry had been exhausted. Jimmy stopped and rewarded him with cheese. He sat there quietly eating as Jimmy made notes and wrote down conclusions. Jerry sat there watching him write. After Jimmy was finished he closed the notebook. He looked back at Jerry who was still staring at him while quietly chewing his food. "God, you're probably the smartest mouse on the planet right now. Who knows if you'll ever be aware of that." Jimmy said out loud. Jerry sat up very slightly. It was really subtle but Jimmy was sure he had heard what he said. He really took pity on the mouse. He had no way of really understanding what Jerry was thinking. He wasn't even sure if Jerry understood him. But he knew that the injection was altering Jerry's mind. He figured that it must be freaking Jerry out. If he had to guess, just based on his behavior all day, he'd say Jerry was confused and scared despite excelling in every trial of the experiments conducted today.

Allen came in exactly at 3pm. "Hey, how's it going?" He said to Jimmy.

"Not bad." Jimmy said.

"How's he doing?"

"You're not going to believe it. The injection worked and his intelligence is evolving fast. Here." Jimmy handed Allen the notebook. Allen looked through it. "Every single trial he's broken a new record. It's all on tape."

Allen looked through the book and went to the earliest entries. "There's nothing here logged in for the weekend."

"Why do you think?" Jimmy asked rhetorically.

"That idiot. Is he even here?"

"I've been alone all day."

"Alright, well I'll take over. You've only done the maze?"

"Yeah, but he's tired. I'd let him rest. He's been running around all day."

Jimmy noticed Jerry bobbing his head back and forth looking to whoever was speaking during their conversation. Allen continued reading.

"Wow. I'll look at the footage and see if I can find any other observations. You work tomorrow?"

"He hasn't told me anything." Jimmy bitterly said

"Figures. Well I'll see you around."

Jimmy takes off his lab coat and throws it over his shoulder. "Later." He looks over at Jerry and waves goodbye. "I'll see you later Jerry." He starts to walk away when-

"WOAH! DUDE, LOOK!" Allen pointed to Jerry who was trying to wave back. Jimmy was in awe. "You think he's ready for communication tests?" Jerry jumps back into his barn after the mention of the word "tests."

"Why not? We know he's intelligent enough to get out of a maze. Maybe he can communicate back."

"This is insane. It's so cool. I'm gonna test the shit out of this."

Jimmy looks over to Allen skeptically. "I'd still let him rest after everything he's done today."

"Yeah, definitely. I got it covered Jimbo. I'll see you later."

"Okay." Jimmy said as he left the lab feeling uneasy.


	8. Chapter 8 Across the Street part 1

While driving back home Jimmy worried about Jerry. It wasn't that Allen was such a bad co-worker. He was at least competent enough to handle things when he wanted to be. But simply put, Jimmy didn't trust Allen. Allen was a hack in every sense. If Carvey told him to do something he would do it without thought. That was dangerous considering he was much more knowledgeable than Carvey when naming the elements of the periodic table. It did surprise him a little to hear Allen say Carvey was an idiot earlier, but regardless he didn't trust him. Allen didn't care about the experiment. He was just there for college credit and would do whatever he had to for good references.

Goddard was wiping the windows with his retractable hand as Jimmy pulled up in the driveway. Jimmy entered the house like normal, the two still behaving like acquaintances. It was the same routine as before. Jimmy went for the TV, browsed through Netflix, found nothing after 10 minutes, then went to the fridge for a bite to eat. He had some leftover pasta from the night before and threw it in the microwave.

As he waited he couldn't help but think about Jerry. The experiment was ethically wrong and he knew it. He knew that regardless of how much improvement Jerry displayed for the sake of scientific research, emotionally the effects it had on the mouse couldn't be good. That was his argument since the beginning. He even cited "Planet of the Apes" as an example because Carvey would at least understand a pop culture reference over scientific fact. That was when Carvey scrapped the idea of testing on chimps and went with mice in order to avoid similarities so there wouldn't be cause for protests. While many on the internet agreed it was a bad idea there wasn't much passionate protest. So worst case scenario, mice kill humans and take over the world. It was an absurd idea and Jimmy knew it was still science fiction after all. But after seeing Jerry look at him all day, whatever was going on in his head couldn't be good.

He tried to think of positives. Maybe this experiment could help with humanity interacting with animals. Still it was messing with nature, and Jimmy had messed with nature so many times as a kid that he was all too familiar with the consequences.

What he found himself most worried about was Jerry himself. What must it feel like to have your brain be tampered with, to have everything you know change? He concluded he must be afraid by what he saw at work. Having pity on him he tried to be as comforting as possible to the poor little mouse. He didn't know what the experiment would do to him. Knowing that he may be having human thoughts, the last thing he wanted to do was cause pain.

He then thought about how beaten Jerry looked. Fucking Carvey. The man was completely incompetent. It wasn't like he would intentionally hurt Jerry, but he surely had no empathy for the mouse. He just treated him as an object that would hopefully bring him fame. That frightened Jimmy as he might do something that inadvertently kills the mouse.

Jimmy continued to eat his pasta at the table. He eventually looked down when he felt Goddard licking his foot. Goddard had been there for a while and could see his creator was bothered by something. He opened up his monitor.

_Everything okay?_

Jimmy read the screen and looked back to Goddard's concerned face. He let a slight smile slide by to not worry him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a rough day." Jimmy reached out to Goddard's forehead and patted him. After accepting the pat, Goddard turned his back to Jimmy. A post-it note was stuck on him from his mom reminding him to take out the trash.

"Ugh. Can you do it, Goddard?" Goddard turned his head back to Jimmy with a stern frown. "Alright, alright. I got it." Goddard's face then went back to one of a happy dog. He licked Jimmy's hand. Jimmy laughed and gave him a friendly push. Goddard then ran out of the room to continue his housework.

Jimmy dragged the trash bins through the backyard approaching the front of the house. As he moved towards the curb he noticed a car driving down the street. It seemed like the car was starting to slow down. Jimmy was halfway through passing down his driveway when the car pulled up in the house across the street. He noticed the blonde girl in the drivers seat. Suddenly he started to pull a little slower and looked down as he heard the engine of the car shut off. He looked up slightly and saw that the person wasn't moving. Even though he couldn't clearly see it from the distance, he reached a point where he could kind of see the rear-view mirror in the car. With a quick glimpse he felt as though those green eyes were looking at him through that mirror. But as soon as he got a brief look, the head turned away. Jimmy made it past the driveway and was dragging the bins down the curb when the car door opened. A beautiful blonde in her early twenties stepped out wearing a professional looking business suit. She made very brief eye contact with Jimmy but he looked back down. He finally lined up the bins to the curb. When he turned around he saw the girl reaching for her purse in the car. As she grabbed it out she briefly made eye contact with Jimmy then quickly shut the door and started walking towards the front door of the house.

Every recent encounter had been awkward for them both. But suddenly an impulse that took over Jimmy that wasn't going to let the awkwardness continue. To his own surprise the words came from his mouth out of nowhere.

"Hey Cindy!"


	9. Chapter 9 Across the Street part 2

"How've you been?"

Cindy just stood there surprised he was talking to her. Jimmy was very nervous, expecting a verbal beating to come out any minute.

It was an incredibly awkward situation given how their paths had crossed in the past few days. Along with their complicated history into this was a weird situation for them both.

Jimmy genuinely did miss her after he left. For a while he admitted to himself that he liked her still when he was at Harvard. Since then he let those feelings evaporate but they would occasionally surface. Under normal circumstances he would've happily said "Hi" to her and strike up a conversation. Unfortunately previous encounters ruined any chance of that happening.

In his childhood he was used to her insults of being called a "nerd" or a "freak." Given recent events that occurred he really wasn't looking forward to having "pervert" adding to that resume of derogatory insults.

When he first saw her get out of the car he was desperate to apologize. To say something. Anything really. Whatever could be said to make things work out and not have to keep that stupid incident in their heads every time their paths crossed. But the surprised look on her face made him wish he left it alone. Whatever she was thinking, he figured it wasn't good. At this point she would always think of him as a creep (among other things) and he'd never be able to change that. Even now he felt like he physically fit the part given how nervous he was.

Cindy's eyes looked away as she began to open her mouth. "Um…" She brought up her arms and crossed them over her chest. She quickly brought her head down then back up to look at Jimmy. "Good… I've been good." Her response sounded less guarded but she still appeared angry.

Jimmy took his hands off the bin and put them in his pocket. He slouched a little as he took a couple steps towards her crossing the street. "Cool." Jimmy mumbled nervously.

Cindy awkwardly stood there trying to figure out what to say. "You?" She finally let slip out.

"Sorry?" Jimmy said confused.

"I meant you. How about you? How've you been?"

Jimmy stood in the street still close to his curb with his hands in his pockets. He began looking off while nodding his head up and down. "Good" he finally looked to Cindy to say. "I've been good as well. Just working and stuff, you know?" He let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah?… Cool." They both stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. Cindy began talking. "Well I'm glad you're doing good."

"Thank you." Jimmy said acknowledging her complement.

They both nodded to each other. Cindy then began to turn around to go inside when Jimmy began talking.

"You look good." Jimmy shouted across the street.

Cindy was still for a second, then began turning around giving him a slightly offended look. Jimmy caught on and began to feel nervous again.

"What I mean is you look good." Now turned back around and fully facing him, Cindy still has the same look on her face. Jimmy spoke nervously and quickly. "I mean you look like you're doing good. You seem like you're doing well. Not that you don't look good. I mean, you look good but what I mean to say is you seem like you're doing good." Jimmy said while gesturing his hands to acknowledge the professional attire she was wearing.

Cindy looked away towards the end of the street while taking steps towards the curb. She then looked at Jimmy. "Um… thank you. Thanks."

They both awkwardly nodded. Jimmy then spoke. "Well, I'm gonna go back inside. Good seeing you."

"Yeah, you too." Cindy replied. "I guess I might see you later."

"Yeah."

"Okay. Um, bye Jimmy." Cindy turned around to walk back to her house.

While they were talking, Carl drove up in his dad's car and parked in front of his house. When he got out he saw the two of them walking back inside. "Cindy!" Carl called out. Cindy turned around reacting to her own name. Jimmy reacted as well. Carl ran across the street towards Cindy. As he was halfway she began to smile at the sight of her old friend. She took some steps forward to meet him halfway. They both came in for a friendly hug.

"Ah, it's been a long time." Carl then breaks the hug. "How've you been." He asked.

"Good. I've been really good." Cindy replied.

Cindy and Carl become really close platonic friends in high school. Back in the day Carl would hang out with Jimmy & Sheen and Cindy was best friends with Libby. Jimmy left right before high school and Sheen and Libby's relationship got much more serious. They were still a close group of friends but Sheen and Libby began spending much more time alone away from the rest of the group. That left Cindy and Carl alone with each other most of the time. The two had mainly been friends by association in the past. They started to get along when Carl was getting harassed by seniors during his freshman year. Cindy helped him build up his confidence and taught him to defend himself using her martial arts skills. She was also there to help him ask out girls in high school. Carl had changed a lot during school thanks to a boost in confidence from Cindy. That confidence helped him navigate through college and helped him impress Elke during the past 3 and a half years. Cindy was a great friend and Carl never forgot that she was there to help when he needed it.

'Wow, look at you! What's going on here? What are you up to?" Carl asked.

"I just got a job." Cindy said smiling.

"What? Did you drop out of school? What are you back home getting a job for?"

"I graduated last week. Finished a semester early."

"Wow, congratulations!" Carl hugged her again. He then let go. "But what about medical school? Are you not going now?"

"That's next fall. I'm going to be working here till then."

"Well let's go out and celebrate. I'm going to the bar with Sheen and Jimmy later tonight. You wanna come?"

She forgot Jimmy was still outside watching from across the street. He looked down the moment she shifted her gaze towards him.

"Um, maybe some other time." Cindy said.

"Oh, come on. We're all in town. Well mostly everyone. Why not catch up. It's not every day we're all in town. Come on, I want hear what you've been up." Carl said rather convincingly.

"Why would you go to a bar?" Cindy asked. "I thought you couldn't drink."

"I don't, but the social scene isn't bad. Look, I'll buy your drink. Deal? Come on, what do you say?"

Cindy looked back to Jimmy. She didn't seem to pissed off but Jimmy doubted she wanted to be in the same place as him. She thought for a second before answering.

"What time?"

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry to put a pause here but I will be MIA for the next two weeks (maybe even till the end of March). I will be traveling and will be away from the internet. The next chapter will be extra long to make up for the time. Hope you are all enjoying.<strong>

**Have a week!**


	10. Chapter 10 Unexpected Familiar Faces

Cindy was reluctant to accept Carl's invitation to hang out at first. She was worried of how awkward it would be having Jimmy around. Their encounter earlier was an improvement but hardly made them friendly towards each other. But she accepted and they all went around 9pm that night. Carl borrowed his dad's car and drove Cindy while Jimmy went to pick up Sheen.

Once she got there it was like high school all over again, minus having Libby around. Carl, Sheen, and Cindy threw their childish antics aside their freshman year and all became really good friends in high school. Cindy was a little surprised seeing how different Sheen was since they last saw each other. But when they got to talking it was like nothing had changed.

"So are you here just for Christmas?" Sheen asked.

"No. I graduated." Cindy was happy to say.

"Already?" Cindy nodded. Sheen raised his glass. "Well let's drink to that!." Cindy raised hers as well. The glasses clicked and they both took a drink. "But don't you have 4 more years before you become Dr. Vortex?"

Cindy nodded after swallowing her gulp of beer. "I'm going back in the fall but I'm home till then."

Cindy spent every semester, winter, and summer vacation at Stanford University taking the maximum amount of classes that she could. She was able to keep herself busy as well as get a decent amount of sleep and maintain a social life. College was a piece of cake for her compared to the majority out there. She spent 3 and a half years in school majoring in Biology with a minor in English studies.

"So where are you working?" Carl asked Cindy.

"I got a job at the hospital" This got Jimmy's attention.

"What are you, a doctor in training?" Sheen asked.

"Are you interning?" Carl asked.

"No. I'm a clinical dietitian." Cindy answered. "It was the only job I was able to get here with my degree."

"A what-" Sheen asked confused.

"She's a nutritionist." Jimmy added unintentionally coming off as a bit of a jerk.

"Okay..." Sheen turned back to Cindy. "What do you do?" Sheen asked.

"Well, I guess I work with my boss and we look at what each patient needs to eat and how many meals they have a day."

"Does that pay a lot?" Sheen asked.

"Around $50,000 a year." Cindy answered.

"WOAH! Shit I need a degree so I can get a job that pays like that." Sheen remarked.

Cindy smiled. "It's actually not that much."

"Hey, it's way more than I'm getting."

Jimmy stayed quiet the rest of the time and Cindy basically forgot he was there. He mostly thought about what was happening to Jerry, but he was still listening to the conversation. Something about her story was not adding up for him and he wanted to find out why.

While Sheen and Cindy were still having a chuckle over Sheen's remark about money, that's when Jimmy interrupted. "So why did you come back here?"

They stopped laughing. Sheen, Carl, and Cindy were all a bit perplexed at the words that came out of Jimmy's mouth.

"What?" Cindy said rather confused by Jimmy's tone.

"Why did you move back here?"

Jimmy noticed that old look was coming back to her face. He knew that look. Whenever he got her blood boiling she would start off with that look and follow it up with a verbal beating. He realized how his question could easily come off as offensive to her, especially given his delivery of it. But it was a just a simple question to him. Just as he saw she was about to start antagonizing him he explained himself in order to neutralize it.

"I mean you're starting school in the fall and you were already living there. I'm just curious why you'd get a job here instead of one up there."

It made perfect sense. After all why would anyone come back to Retroville where there was nothing. Sheen and Carl both turned to Cindy awaiting an answer. She was clearly taken aback by the question and took a while to answer it.

"Um… You're right. I almost did get a job there. But my parents wanted me to spend some time with them and they were able to set me up with an interview here. So I just took the job and since I don't have to pay rent at home I can save up everything I make for medical school tuition."

Something still bothered him about her answer. He didn't think she was lying. He just thought she wasn't telling the whole truth. But instead of bombarding her with more questions he just left it alone.

"Well I'm glad you're back. It's nice to have someone other than mopey over here to talk to." Sheen said as he pointed at Jimmy. Jimmy just kept his head down looking at the table.

"What about you?" Cindy turned to Sheen. "Are you still at the Candy Bar?"

"Yeah." Sheen unenthusiastically answered. "Still there."

"Are you still trying to go to school?"

"Trying, yeah. I can't save up fast enough though. It's always going back to cell phone bills or water bills or rent." They all looked down at the table. Everyone did feel bad for Sheen but he didn't want to be the subject of everyone's buzzkill. Instead he changed the topic. "Anyway, do you still talk to Libby?"

"Yeah." Cindy responded.

"How is she?"

"She's good. Her group's doing really well in LA. Last time we talked she said they might be going on tour to open for some big band."

"Cool. That's great for her." Sheen said. He took a quick drink from his glass then blurted out his next question. "Is she seeing anyone?"

The question was so sudden that it caught Cindy off guard. "I… don't know." Cindy answered as though it was more like a question than a statement.

Carl interjected. "Dude, you gotta let that go. Besides don't you already have girlfriend?"

Sheen threw his left hand up as though he were tossing the question to the other side of the room. He took another drink from his glass.

"Yeah? Who is she?" Cindy asked despite being able to tell Sheen wanted to change the subject.

"You don't know her. She moved here and started at RCC about the time you left." Sheen said looking down at the table. He grabbed a fry from Carl's plate.

"Not going well?" Cindy asked.

"I can't stand being in the same room as her. You have no idea."

"Why don't you break up with her?" Carl asked. "From what you told me it doesn't sound healthy at all for either of you."

"I can't complain." Sheen said. "Neither one of us really likes each other but financially it makes sense for both of us to live together. It's easier to pay rent."

"Why don't you just move in with somebody? Find a roommate." Cindy pointed out. She then gestured to Jimmy. "Why don't you get a place with Neutron here? Or somebody? It's not that hard."

Surprised at the mention of his name, Jimmy seemed angry at the idea.

"Oh, we've talked about it before."

"Well I don't get. I mean a Harvard grad is probably making decent money to at least afford a place. I'm sure he's making enough at the lab he works at."

"HA!" Sheen laughed.

Cindy noticed Jimmy getting on more on edge. It confused her since she basically gave him a compliment. "What? I mean I'm sure you're making enough you don't need to live at home anymore." Jimmy gave her a calm but pissed off stare.

Sheen interjected. "You would think so, right?" He took one last drink from his glass as he emptied it. "But Jimmy isn't making more than $10 an hour. He's barely working more than 2 days a week."

"Shut up, Sheen." Jimmy said as calmly as possible but was clearly getting angrier. Cindy backed down from the subject.

Sheen picked up the pitcher and began pouring himself another glass. "He says he stays home just to help his mom but we all know that's bullshit."

"Sheen, shut the fuck up." Jimmy tried to stay calm.

"You wanna know something else." Sheen took a drink from his glass. "You know his lab? He hasn't even gone down and-"

"GOD DAMN IT, SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH SHEEN!" Jimmy yelled it out so the whole bar could hear him. "I don't need to sit here listening to you tell everyone my life's story and lecture me in the process! You don't hear me telling everyone how you should live your life so don't try to manage mine!" Carl and Cindy were surprised by Jimmy's outburst.

"Okay, I'm sorry dude." Sheen said both earnestly yet a little confused.

After a few seconds of quiet everyone in the bar went back to their conversations. No one at the table said a word. Carl then noticed the dart board wasn't being used. He took Cindy's hand. "Hey, you want to go play darts?" Carl asked while getting up.

"Um" Cindy quickly looked back at Sheen and Jimmy, both looking calm. She then began to get up from her chair. "Sure, let's go." They both left Jimmy and Sheen alone at the table.

* * *

><p>About 30 minutes later most of the patrons had left being it was a Monday night and they had to wake up for work. Sheen was refilling the pitcher while Jimmy still sat at the table, occasionally looking over at Carl and Cindy playing darts. Jimmy figured Carl was telling her about his life in Iowa and she probably shared some anecdotes as well. He knew they both became close friends but this was the first time he had seen them this close. It was a strange sight but at the same time it was nice to see how much Carl had grown. And it was nice seeing how Cindy had grown in other ways. No, he wasn't thinking about the incident Friday night. He just didn't deny that she was an attractive member of the opposite sex. After all he always thought that even if he rarely said it out loud.<p>

Sheen walked back over the table with the new pitcher in his hand. Jimmy took one last swig from his glass to prepare himself to refill it. Sheen took his seat and refilled both his and Jimmy's glass. The two rarely talked since Jimmy's outburst earlier that night. Just made some casual observations and shared them out loud. But finally Sheen broke the ice. "I can see you're still into her."

"Hmm?" Jimmy turned around looking at Sheen.

"Come on, man. You know what I'm talking about."

"What? You mean Cindy?"

"No shit, son!" Jimmy brushed it off. "Oh come on. We all knew you two had a thing for each other in 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Don't deny it. Everyone knew."

Jimmy laughed a little. "Okay, yes I admit that I thought of her in that way back then and she did too at times. But that's history. Now I don't even know her. I don't know what she's been up to. There's nothing to relate to in her that I'm interested in."

"Yeah, that's why you keep staring at her. Right?"

"Can you point out another hot girl in this bar right now?" Jimmy raised his glass to take a drink.

"So she's hot?"

Jimmy quickly swallowed his drink to respond to that. "Well no fucking shit! Look around. I'm not gonna deny she's kind of cute. Doesn't mean I still have feelings for her."

"I don't know. You got pretty pissed off when I told her you barely had a job."

"No, that's just you being a dick about it."

"Alright, fair enough." Sheen said softening his tone. "Would you go out with her though?"

"What. Now?" Jimmy said surprised.

"Well I guess I mean if something came up."

Jimmy thought about it for a second. "You know what, sure. I doubt she's even still into me like that but if something happened I wouldn't oppose to it."

"So you still like her then." Sheen said in a smart alecky tone.

"Fucking hell, I swear Libby still posses your mind at times. You gotta stop acting like her."

"Hey, you were the one that just said you'd be willing to go out with Cindy."

"I said 'if something happens' but I doubt it. Anyway I'd rather move forward and do something different. I'm not gonna waste my time reigniting an old flame. I want to know what the future has in store."

"Fair enough." Sheen said disappointed.

Jimmy got up from the table. "I'm gonna whack some balls." Jimmy said walking over to the pool table. Sheen went back to drinking alone.

* * *

><p>Jimmy had been playing pool by himself for the past 10 minutes. He played by himself not because he was anti-social but because at this point it was well known he was unbeatable. It wasn't so much the game itself that he loved. It was the use of simple math and physics that he used to make the perfect shot into the pocket. It was basic problem solving to him rather than a game of skill. He didn't mind playing by himself because it calmed him down. After a while he heard a familiar voice come up from behind him.<p>

"I see you still enjoy being alone in the company of yourself, huh Neutron." Jimmy let go of his shooting stance and got up to face Cindy. "Is your ego so big that it can't handle being around other people?"

Jimmy planted the back end of the cue on the ground and gropped both hands around it. "No, I'm just tired of hearing the lack of creativity in your insults, Vortex."

"Are you still so bad at games that they don't let you play with anyone else?"

"Why don't you grab a cue a find out." Jimmy said with a dead serious grin.

Cindy was a little taken aback by how confident he was in his last remark. It definitely was not the Jimmy she was used to bantering with. "Fine." She said walking over to the wall to pick up a cue. "But I break."

"Ladies first." Jimmy said as he took out 3 quarters from his pocket to buy the balls for a new game. He racked the balls while Cindy applied chalk to her cue. When they were ready to play, Jimmy slid the white ball over to Cindy. She caught it and with precision immediately planted it on the center sticker in attempt to assert dominance. Jimmy didn't know if this was considered flirting given how awkward their relationship had been in the past but he just grinned a little willing to play along. Cindy made aime and took her shot. Every ball scattered around the table, not one ball going in a single pocket. Jimmy caught the slight tinge of frustration on Cindy's face as she got back up and smiled at him.

Jimmy got in his shooting stance where the white ball was. It was right in front of a the solid green ball which was right in front of a pocket. An impossible shot to miss. He took the shot and made it. He got back up and gave Cindy a satisfied look.

"Good for you. You made one." Cindy said with sarcastic enthusiasm. Jimmy just smiled back. When he turned his back to her Cindy leaned against the wall crossing her arms with the cue stick still in her left hand.

Jimmy aimed straight for two solid balls on the other side of the table. They were lined up to both go in the pocket in front of them. Jimmy gave a tap that was aggressive enough so the ball would roll over to the solid ball up front. The ball started rolling to the other solid one and tapped it. The solid immediately went it. The momentum of the one hit by the white ball slowed down but it slowly made it's way into the hole. Jimmy got back up and again gave a satisfied look.

"You're just lucky." Cindy jealously stated.

"Luck has nothing to do with it my dear Cynthia."

Cindy scoffed at the use of her full name. "Oh please."

"You want to make this game more interesting?"

Her eyes lit up. "What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know, let me think." Jimmy pondered for a second.

"How about winner gets $20?"

"No, that's not interesting. It's too easy." Jimmy thought some more. "Can you still make those cookies you made in middle school."

"Yeah." Cindy answered intrigued where this was going.

"Okay, well if I win you have to make me a batch."

"Interesting… What if I win? What do I get?" Cindy asked.

"You have something in mind?"

Cindy thought for a second. "How about you give me full access to your lab?"

"Really? That's all you want?"

Cindy was surprised by how casual he was about it. "Well I don't know what else is important to you."

"Okay, sure. If you win you can have it. Not that that matters anyway." Jimmy got in shooting stance and aimed for a striped ball that was close to going in a pocket.

"Um, you do know that you're supposed to aim solid balls into the hole." Cindy pointed out laughing at the notion of Jimmy messing up. "Is the lab okay? I'm surprised you're practically trying to give it away."

"I'm well aware of the wager, Vortex. If you don't mind I'm concentrating." Jimmy focused closely on the striped ball. He perfected his aim and took a deep breathe. TAP! The white ball went towards one of Cindy's stripes and aggressively banged up against it. Jimmy got up quickly to see how his shot played out. The striped ball moved close to the pocket but just barely touched the edge before going in the hole. It ricocheted back and hit a solid and a stripe. The solid went to the closest pocket while the stripe went down the other way. Cindy saw the stripe was heading for another solid. As the first solid ball went it, the stripe ball hit Jimmy's other solid and guided it to another pocket. The ball still had momentum and went towards another solid. Meanwhile the white ball went back and forth many times that was approaching the 8 ball. The stripe hit a third solid and knocked it in. However the white ball hit the 8 and slowly sent it towards the pocket. Jimmy held his gaze on it as Cindy eagerly watched it crawl to the pocket. Right as it was on the tip of falling in, that's when the 8 ball stopped moving. Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief. He only had one ball left to knock in before the 8 and then he won.

"Okay, you didn't make a cue that would help you cheat did you?"

Jimmy casually took aim and took his shot. "This isn't like baseball, Vortex. It's a fairly simple game to master." He knocked in the solid, leaving only the 8 ball which was on the edge of the pocket.

Cindy crossed her arms. "And how did you master it, Neutron?"

Jimmy took his last shot. "It's just basic physics with some geometry and trigonometry worked in. It's really simple."

Cindy scoffed at his smartass retort. "Typical Neutron. You always have to show off, don't you?"

Cindy appeared to be reverting back to old habits. Jimmy wasn't really in the mood for an argument. He was just having playful banter. But he could tell that she was annoyed enough that if he argued back that would both be screaming at each other. Instead he went a different route.

"Hey, not everyone can be great at everything. I'm sure if I played you darts you're throwing arm has me beat."

Cindy was once again surprised by Jimmy. "Did… Did I just here Jimmy Neutron admit that he's not perfect?"

"Well, yeah." Jimmy casually replied. "It's not like everyone can be perfect at everything. You got stuff you're good at. I got stuff I'm good at. That's how it works."

"Wow." Cindy was still taking it in. "That's really mature of you to admit."

Jimmy held his smile satisfied by Cindy's reaction. It surprised him that he genuinely felt good at this moment. But his pause went on long enough that he came back trolling. "Yeah, I'm not perfect. However I am a certified genius which means I'm still always right about everything."

Cindy scoffed. Jimmy kept his playful grin and chuckled a little. That chuckle eventually evolved into a laugh. At first he wasn't sure if Cindy was participating in the same playful banter as him, but she soon let out her own chuckle. It seemed to him she at least got that he was kidding around… kind of.

From the distance Jimmy could see Carl and Sheen talking while pointing at him and Cindy. When they noticed him looking they both waved back at them. Jimmy held up the middle finger when Cindy wasn't looking. Suddenly Sheen started throwing up on the table. Cindy and Jimmy went straight to the table. Carl helped Sheen get up and placed an arm over his shoulder. Jimmy got Sheen's other arm and placed it over his own shoulder.

"Cindy, grab that pitcher!" Jimmy shouted as Sheen puked all over Carl.

Cindy brought the pitcher over and held it for Sheen to puke. He stopped for a second and they quickly ran to the bathroom to get Sheen to the toilet. Jimmy gave Carl a pill for Sheen. He went back outside.

"Sorry JT." Jimmy said to the bartender.

JT just waved it off. It was a common occurrence. Cindy had seen it in high school. Sheen was a heavier drinker now than he was in high school but even then he'd puke at random times from drinking. His tolerance wasn't that great. JT never bothered him about it because Sheen was always a good customer.

* * *

><p>They were all still a little buzzed leaving the bar but sober enough to drive at the legal limit. Carl, still covered in Sheen's puke, had carried Sheen by the shoulder and walked him to his car. Jimmy puke free. "I'm gonna take him home. You okay with taking Cindy back?" Carl asked Jimmy.<p>

"Yeah, of course." Jimmy looked over to Cindy. "If that's okay with you."

"No, yeah. It's fine… You know… I don't want to deal with the stink anyway." Cindy looked to Carl. "No offense."

"None taken." Carl replied.

"Yeah, cool. That works out." Cindy said a little awkwardly. Jimmy smiled back with the same amount of awkwardness.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow." Carl told Jimmy and stepped into his car.

* * *

><p>While driving Jimmy felt nervous. He didn't know why. It was bothering him that he felt nervous when he knew in his mind he had no reason to. He didn't like the silence and wanted to break it. As he was about to open his mouth, Cindy came out with the first word.<p>

"I see you got rid of the hover car in favor for a _real_ car."

Jimmy thought carefully about how to steer this conversation. "You like it?"

Cindy looked around admiring the Hummer, not knowing it was the hover car. "I never figured you for a Hummer guy but it's nice. I'm surprised you could afford it. Your mom or dad help you get it?"

"No, I got it myself."

"Wow." Cindy said sounding somewhat impressed. "Well it's better than driving that plastic boat tube."

"You didn't like the hover car?" Jimmy asked somewhat disappointed by the thought her childhood memories of it weren't as nice as his.

"It's not that I didn't like it. I mean, it was cool when we were 12. It's just not something a grown up would have now, you know?" Jimmy nodded. "Shame you don't still have it though." Cindy said assuming the hover car was gone. "I figured you would've kept it to go to some places far away."

"Like where?" Jimmy asked to get her to keep talking.

"I don't know. Anywhere. I mean you could go to Europe or Australia. There's places we've been to like Egypt or the island."

THE ISLAND. Jimmy was glad to hear her mention it. It gave him the window to steer this conversation in a place he wanted it to go.

"You still think about that place?" Jimmy asked.

Cindy took a second to respond. "Not really. We're talking about the hover car. It came to mind."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Jimmy sounded a little disappointed. He didn't know why. It wasn't like he consciously wanted to be with her like he used to be.

"You haven't gone back, have you?" Cindy asked.

"No."

"I wonder if those houses are still there. You remember that?"

"Yeah, of course I remember." Jimmy thought for a second about what to say next. "You wanna go?"

Cindy laughed. "What? Right now?"

"We can if you want."

"I thought you just said you got rid of the hover car?"

"I never said that. You assumed I did because I'm driving this Hummer. All I did was ask you if you didn't like it and where you would've gone with it." Cindy thought back on the conversation. Her look told Jimmy she realized he was right. "You know we can go."

"Sure. This time at night? It'll be freezing cold and you don't have seatbelts in that thing."

"It's safer now. I made quite a few modifications and put in new safety features. There's no way we can fall overboard again."

"Whatever. I'm sure it'll go haywire like all of your other inventions."

"I've never had a problem with it."

"Well I don't see myself ever getting in it any time soon after what happened last time."

"Oh, I highly doubt that."

"Oh really? Tell me, Neutron: What makes you think I will ever set foot inside your 'newly modified hover car?'" She said using her fingers to make air quotes

Jimmy turned to Cindy and smiled. "Because you're sitting in it." Cindy was dumbfounded yet again for what seemed like the billionth time that night. Whatever she expected of Jimmy Neutron, she was constantly surprised for better or worse. Although she was a little disappointed in herself because she should've seen this one coming. After all it made absolute sense for Jimmy to make changes to the hover car in order for it to appear like a regular vehicle.

Jimmy flipped open the control panel and showed her he could switch to fly mode. "You wanna go?" He had his finger ready to push the button.

Cindy sat back in shock for a bit but quickly came back to her senses. "Wait a minute. You're not serious are you, Neutron?"

Jimmy was simply enjoying playful banter but he could tell she was being serious in her question. The last thing he wanted to do tonight was piss her off especially since they were having a halfway decent night being a little nicer to each other.

"No, not at all." Jimmy said as his buzz went down a bit. "Just messing around." He closed the control panel and went back to looking at the road while driving. He felt like an idiot for what he just tried to pull. It seemed like fun but reality set in and now it seemed like a stupid idea. What he didn't notice was Cindy slouching down her seat with the subtlest hint of disappointment on her face. To be fair no one would've noticed it anyway. No one except for probably Libby that is.

After a short silence Cindy finally spoke "Well you did a good job with it." Jimmy turned to look at her for a bit. "The car I mean. It looks nice. It looks like a real Hummer" He brought his eyes back on the road.

"Thanks." There was roughly 30 seconds of silence before Jimmy started talking again. "So you're working at the hospital now?"

"Yeah. First day tomorrow." Cindy said with a light sarcastic groan. "No, I'm really looking forward to it. It gets me exposure to the hospital workflow outside of Stanford."

"Cool." Jimmy said having little to work into the conversation.

"Oh yeah, I saw your mom there. I'm actually working with her for part of it."

"Really. A nurse helps out nutritionists."

"Yeah, she tries to do everything to help out patients. She works really hard actually. My boss told me she probably takes on more than she can handle."

"Yeah, that sounds like my mom."

"She really looks tired though."

"Yeah, you would be too if you worked 80 hours a week."

"Oh my God."

"Yeah, she works her butt off to pay for the house and everything else."

"Jeezz." It was quiet for a moment. "And you don't help her out?"

"Well when I can, I mean. You know I do some work around the house-"

"I mean with bills." Jimmy knew he didn't like where this was going. "You don't even have a job yet."

"Hey, I work. I get paid-"

"Two days a week? You of all people should be making a lot. I'm surprised you're not working for NASA."

Jimmy raised his voice a little. "Look can we not talk about this? I get enough crap from everyone else and I'm tired of hearing it. And I'll be honest, it might be the drinks but tonight I'm actually having a good time talking to you, not trying to win an argument at the top of my lungs. It's good seeing you and I don't want to start having to defend myself." Cindy didn't say a word. She was clearly disappointed in him but she didn't yell back at him. Jimmy took a deep breath and calmed down a bit. "I know I should be doing something, okay." Cindy turned to look back at him. "It's just all a mess. I'd rather not talk about it if that's okay."

Cindy began to feel empathy for Jimmy though she wasn't sure why. Something seemed to bother him beyond his troubles at home. "Okay. Yeah, that's fine."

"Thank you." Jimmy went back to focusing on the road. The drive went back to being silent.

They were a couple blocks away from their neighborhood when Cindy opened her mouth. "I'm sorry to bring it up, and you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but you're not working for that guy trying to create super mice are you?" 'Super Mice' was a term being used by the press when reporting Carvey's work.

"Yeah, I'm working with that guy." Jimmy was reluctant to say.

Cindy stayed quiet for a bit. "Well look, I know it's none of my business but I think you could do better than working for someone like that. You've done better than that."

"Thanks." Jimmy genuinely did appreciate the comment. "I'm really tired of working for that piece of shit."

Hearing Jimmy say that made Cindy happy she wouldn't have to bottle up what was on her mind. "God, is he really that stupid? I mean we all know it's ethically wrong to experiment on animals but usually when we do it we learn something about their nature. What's he trying to do?"

"Why do you think he's doing it? He wants money."

"Well you haven't been getting any of it."

"I don't want it at this point." Cindy noticed the concerned tone in his voice. "It's scary what he's doing to him. I don't know what the hell Jerry's thinking when it's happening." Jimmy ranted still a little buzzed. He noticed Cindy was a little confused. "Jerry is the mouse we injected the cells into."

Cindy nodded understanding what he meant. "Well you don't need me to tell you it's stupid. But why are you helping him?"

"I tried to tell them not to do it. The best I could do was convince them not to experiment on monkeys when I brought up _Planet of the Apes." _Cindy laughed. "Seriously, if I hadn't said anything there'd be more protesters out there because of that. I think I inadvertently helped make it worse."

Jimmy pulled up the car in his driveway and parked.

Cindy struggled to find a way to convince Jimmy to quit. "Well, I can't tell you what you don't already know."

Jimmy appreciated her concern. It was nice that to him it seemed like she genuinely cared about his feelings toward the matter.

"Well… I hope your first day goes over well."

"Thank you." Cindy said appreciatively.

"Um… I guess since you're back I'll see you around."

"Yeah… Carl told me you guys have been hanging out at that bar every night."

"Well you're more than welcome to come. I mean, I don't know if it's too much of a guy thing for you or anything but it'd be cool to have you around."

"No, it's no problem at all. It's nice to see some familiar faces. Just in general it's nice to be with people you know around here. You know what I mean?"

"Definitely." Jimmy nodded awkwardly. "Well I might see you tomorrow."

"Maybe. We'll see."

"Cool… Alright, well I'll see you around."

Jimmy and Cindy both got out of the car. Cindy started walking towards her house.

Cindy turned around. "See ya."

"See ya." He responded.

Jimmy walked up to his front door and unlocked the door. When he opened it he stopped and turned around for a second. "Hey Vortex!" He shouted across the street. Cindy turned around. "Remember to close your curtains this time!" Before he ever had the opportunity to see the embarrassed look he imagined was on her face right now, Jimmy quickly shut the front door.

* * *

><p>Apart from the alcohol, he really had no idea why he was feeling so happy at this moment. It was kind of an awkward night seeing her. He expected her to throw insults at him just like old times but she was just as uncomfortable as he was. That really surprised him. And even though she took a couple jabs at him it seemed to him they were both just being playful. He had to admit it to himself that he actually had fun. Probably the most fun he had in a long time. Suddenly he thought back on the last thing he said to her before shutting the door. Jimmy intended to just be messing around. Now he worried about how stupid what he had said was. It was a joke but did she even get that? Did she think it was "cute funny" like he meant it to be? Or even funny at all? What if he ruined the night and she would just go back to thinking he was a weirdo? The thought really bothered him.<p>

While still hung up on that thought of what happened outside, Jimmy was surprised to see a suitcase standing in front of the closet across from the front door. A faint sound of something like paper came from the living room. A dim light came from that direction. It was obvious there was a guest in the house, but Jimmy wasn't notified at all about anyone staying over. Especially at this time of night he didn't expect anyone to be awake. He moved over to the living room noticing the end of the mattress on the pull-out couch. On the chair next to the bed an immediately recognizable blue sweater-vest rests on the edge. Just before he reached the corner he knew it would be his dad laying on that pull-out couch. Thoughts quickly began to speculate what he was doing back home. Was it just for Christmas? Are his parents getting back together? There really weren't any other possibilities he could think of. Although if they were together he certainly would be sleeping in his old bedroom and Hugh had another family that he would no doubt be spending Christmas with.

Jimmy expected to see a "happy" face from his dad the moment he entered the living room. He figured he would act like his old cheery self and pretend everything was okay. Once he entered the living room he saw a pair of sad eyes looking through an old Retroville High year book from the 70s. Hugh's gaze quickly turned to Jimmy. He quickly tossed the yearbook under the sheets as he let a small smile perk up. "Heeyyy Jimbo." Hugh said enthusiastically but quietly to not wake up Judy.

"Hey." Jimmy said confused by his father's presence. "I… I didn't know you were coming. Are you here for Christmas?"

Hugh's smile faded right away. "Um… No… It's a little more complicated than that."

"Are you in trouble? Is everything okay?"

"No!" Hugh threw his hands up to gesture that there was no problem. He chuckled a little at the question. "No, it's nothing like that." His tone went back to being sad. "Um, I have a friend that's sick so I'm just here for the week. I have to get back to Florida before Christmas. Your mom insisted I stay here in the meantime."

"Who's sick?" Jimmy asked concerned.

Hugh took a second to compose himself to reply. "Well an old friend of mine from high school has stomach cancer and it doesn't look too good. I want to make sure things end in a better place."

"Oh." Jimmy looked down not knowing what to say. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"That's life I suppose." A moment of silence occurred between the two. Hugh then spoke up. "Anyway, how are you? Are you getting a job?"

"I have a job."

"I mean a real job that pays you more than one day a week."

"God, has mom been talking to you?" Jimmy asked a little annoyed but still sympathetic to his father's pain.

"She's really worried about you, Jimbo." Hugh said earnestly.

"Well I'm doing fine for myself."

"Okay. I'm sure you'll do great." Hugh quietly said. Another moment of silence passed between them till Jimmy got the conversation going again. "Hows the family in Florida?"

"Good actually… Really good. Your sister is actually talking already. She might be just as smart as you." Hugh said sounding more proud as he kept talking.

"That's good." Jimmy nodded politely but awkwardly not knowing where to take the conversation.

More silence passed between them. Hugh began to speak. "Look, I'm going to be busy most of the week but if you have time we can catch up-"

Jimmy responded before Hugh finished talking. "Definitely. I'll let you know what's going on."

"Okay." Both of them stood there awkwardly. "Well, goodnight." Hugh finally said.

"Goodnight." Jimmy quickly left the room and went upstairs.


	11. Chapter 11 About Sheen

"Come on, you can't leave me hanging like that. What happened on the way back?"

"Seriously, nothing. We just talked. Really not much to it. It was friendly and not that big a deal."

Jimmy and Carl were walking towards the supermarket to buy candy before they went to line up for the "Ultralord" midnight screening. It was much cheaper to buy it at there instead of the theater.

"Sure, it's never that big a deal between the two of you." Carl said with a smirk.

"Fucking hell, dude. Is it really that shocking? It's been 8 years and we're both consenting adults now. You don't think we can at least be mature about the past. Everyone laughs about the stupid stuff they did when they were kids. I ran into Butch around town probably 5 times and he doesn't relapse back to being a bully. We all just laugh about it now."

The two entered the supermarket and right away headed for the candy aisle. Carl kept his smartalec I-know-something-happened grin on his face. Jimmy saw it. Annoyed, he stopped walking and put his hand up to stop Carl.

"Look, all we really did was talk." He lowered his hand. "It wasn't anything huge. But I'll admit it was nice. We weren't at each other's throats and we just talked about the hovercar and her job and my job and that's more or less it. She was cool to talk to, you should know that. You two are pretty close friends after all." Jimmy went back to the direction of the candy. Carl followed him from behind.

"Yeah, I know. But I know Cindy pretty well too and back in the bar I'm pretty sure she was flirting with you."

"People flirt for fun. It's simple. It's not always sexual."

"Bullshit! And you know it's never been that simple when it comes to you both."

"Alright, so there was a bit of wordplay going on. Doesn't mean anything, it was just good fun."

"I'm sure it was more than that for her."

Jimmy stopped walking and quickly turned back to Carl. "Why? Did she say anything?" He asked quickly.

Carl's smirk grew. "Why do you wanna know? I thought it wasn't a big deal."

Jimmy turned back around and started walking again. "Look, we're just friends. Not that anything is official but if we're both gonna be in the same town for the next 9 months I'm sure we'll get along fine without any romantic entanglements. I'm guessing she feels the same way. That's the vibe I got last night."

"You're probably right. She told me something similar after she got home last night."

"So what did she say?" Jimmy asked eagerly but tried to downplay it.

"Just that she had fun and would like to do it again."

"Did you invite her to the movie?" Jimmy asked.

"No, she's spending the night with her family." Carl answered. Jimmy noticed Carl's response to that sounded a bit sad as if he knew something was up. But the thought quickly went away.

They stopped in front of the candy. Jimmy grabbed himself some Junior Mints and Carl got some Swedish fish.

"What do you think Sheen wants?" Jimmy asked Carl.

"Maybe get him some M&M's or Skittles." Carl then changed the tone of the conversation. "Jim, you mind if I ask you about something serious?" He said still sounding a little sad after saying what Cindy was doing that night.

Jimmy was beginning to wonder if Cindy was in trouble and he was just going to find out about it. "What's up?" He asked.

Carl thought of how to phrase his question carefully but then he just bluntly asked "Is Sheen okay?"

Jimmy was a little puzzled. "How do you mean?"

"Well… it's just last night he was still drunk. He lost the pill you gave him apparently. He kind of ranted about stuff." Carl said hesitantly.

"Drunk people have the tendency to rant about _random stuff._" Jimmy explained.

"This was different… He brought up _the incident._." Carl said dead serious.

"The one we agreed never to talk about?" Jimmy said giving Carl a serious look. "It can't be that, can it? Because if so I seem to remember we all agreed-"

They stopped at the self checkout counter to buy their candy.

"Yes, that one." Carl interrupted. "And I know we agreed but this was the first time he's ever talked about it. Or at least to me anyway."

"I don't want to hear about this, Carl. That was the worst year of my life. I'd like to forget it-"

Carl interrupted "He got suicidal last night." Jimmy listened closely. "Just the things he was saying… It really worried me, Jim. You remember how down he was when we brought him back. And when you left things actually began to turn great for him. Last night he just went on about 'what if I stayed' and 'I was royalty' and other stuff like that. He was drunk, I don't know what he was talking about. And then he got really dark and talked about life and the universe having no point. He even asked if he could live with me. I said no though, now I guess it sounded more dickish then I would've meant for it to. I mean I know he was drunk but it was scary. I really don't think he's okay."

"You don't have to tell me that. I know how bad it is for him."

"And I met his girlfriend last night. HOLY SHIT!" Carl cursed.

"You met 'The Beast?'"

"That's what you call her?" Carl asked laughing a little. "Anyway she just screamed at him calling him useless and blaming him for not bringing food. It doesn't sound too bad but it was really depressing. That whole place was a mess and smelled really bad. I don't know how their relationship is but I don't think it's going well."

They both walked out of the supermarket and started walking towards the Candy Bar across the street.

"It's not. Believe me, I've told him many times to go back and start school."

"I just don't like seeing him depressed like that."

"Welcome to Retroville, Carl." Jimmy said with proud sarcasm. "_Everyone _here is depressed. The whole town is trapped in nostalgia." Jimmy pointed to the Candy Bar. "Look at the Candy Bar. It's just a recreation of the 50s. Everything else around here is "Retro" just trying to relive a time that's gone. Everyone's got problems. I'm sure Cindy will have her issues too pretty soon. She should've stayed at Stanford." He said with a chuckle.

Carl was clearly hurt by that remark. "Dude, that's not funny."

"I wasn't kidding."

Carl retaliated retaliated. "You don't know her problems."

"Would you care to inform me." Jimmy began to raise his voice a little.

Carl began to raise his voice to argue back. "At least she's doing something. That's the problem with both you and Sheen. Neither of you do anything. Of all people you should be kicking ass right now in the real world."

Jimmy stopped walking in the parking lot. He got more defensive. "Don't tell me what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm sorry if things are not as perfect as Iowa for us here. Yeah, I've got my own problems and I'm working on it. Sheen? I've tried everything. What else am I supposed to do, Carl? You tell me!"

A long pause occurred as Jimmy waited for Carl to answer. "Okay, I don't want to fight. It's just I'm worried about Sheen. I don't want to suddenly find out he did _something_."

"What? Kill himself?" Jimmy said bluntly. "He's not gonna do it, Carl. He's gone through a lot of shit and yet he still manages to pull through."

"I just feel like we have to do something."

"Don't ask me to take care of him. I can't even take care of myself."

"Bullshit! You can support yourself on this planet or anywhere else in the galaxy. You really need to get out of your well of self-pity."

Jimmy starts walking again. "Jesus, you've only been here for 5 days and you act like you know all my problems."

Carl struggles to say something as he walks behind Jimmy. Ultimately he stays quiet until they reach the Candy Bar.

* * *

><p>Jimmy and Carl sit at the bar alone, not a single patron or employee in sight. Carl began to talk for the first time since they were walking over.<p>

"So why can't Sheen leave her?" Carl asked.

Jimmy was still upset over their conversation outside. He quickly adjusted his attitude after noting the earnestness in Carl's question. "He says it's for financial reasons. It's easier for them because rent is expensive all over town."

"I'm guessing with a nickname like 'The Beast' she's kind of bitchy."

"That's an understatement." Jimmy laughed.

Silence passed for a moment till Carl spoke again. "I don't get it though. How did they start dating."

"It was a one-night stand and she got pregnant." Jimmy simplified. Carl's jaw dropped. "Or so she said anyway. They both agreed they'd move in together and raise the kid, not get married right away. Then 15 months later Sheen realized there wasn't a kid yet and Alicia told him she had a "miscarriage" early into the pregnancy. He got mad and she made up some story about not telling him because she was afraid he'd leave her. Of course Sheen defended her. And since then his excuse was they just live together because financially it makes sense, which it does. I just don't know why he doesn't look for another roommate."

Carl looks down still processing everything. Suddenly Sam came from the kitchen.

"Well well well, did he send you both here to make excuses?" Sam asked seriously.

"What?" Jimmy asked confused.

"Your buddy was a no-show this morning. I make a small change to the schedule so he have an opening shift and still see his dumb movie yet he doesn't even show up for work. I've been back there washing the dishes for him and taking care of the front."

"Sheen's not here?" Carl asked.

"I just said that, didn't I?" Sam asked rhetorically.

Suddenly Carl's phone began to vibrate. Before Carl picked it up Jimmy noticed Cindy was the caller.

Carl answered the phone. "Hello… Why, what's going on?… What?… We'll be right there." Carl hung up the phone and got up. "Come on." He said to Jimmy.

"What's going on?" Jimmy asked still sitting and confused.

"Sheen's at the hospital."

* * *

><p>On the 4th floor of Retroville General Hospital the two friends sprinted as they searched for their third amigop. Judy threw her hands up as soon as she saw them.<p>

"Woah! WOAH!"

Carl and Jimmy quickly lost their balance as they struggled to stop. They finally stood back up straight on their own feet.

"Guys, don't' run. It's dangerous to run in a hospital. A lot of people are here."

"Sorry." They both apologized out of breathe.

"Okay." Judy then brought her hands down and began to look more serious. "I'll take you to him. Follow me."

Judy walked down the hospital wing as the boys followed. It was like any other day at a hospital: a fairly chaotic environment but calm at the same time.

Jimmy and Carl knew they were close to Sheen's room when they both saw two police officers questioning Alicia. They overheard her rambling as they walked by.

"… I'm not surprised that he would do it. I've felt something was off for a while but I never thought he'd kill himself." Alicia babled.

"Mam, that's not official." One officer interjected.

Alicia continued. "I mean he's been so down and working so hard to pay bills. I can see how stress would get to him. He doesn't even have time to take me out anymore. And with him working so much more than me I can see why he would be under so much stress and want to end his own life." She went on expressing fake sympathy.

Carl gave Alicia an annoyed glance as they past by. She acknowledged it without changing her fake expression. Judy and Jimmy both looked forward as they kept walking.

Jimmy noticed they walked past the door to Sheen's room when he noticed his name on the clipboard hanging on the door. He went towards the door till Judy pulled his arm and continued to walk forward. He became even more concerned.

As they walked around the corner the sound of Alicia's babbling faded away. Judy sat them both down in the chairs against the wall.

"I need you two to wait right here." Judy said.

Carl took a seat. Jimmy confronted his mom. "Why did we pass the room? Is he okay?"

"He'll be fine. I just didn't want you to listen to that brat." She said clearly annoyed.

"Did he try to kill himself?" Carl asked.

Judy looked at them both unsure of how to respond. "… I'll have the doctor explain it to you. Just wait here for a bit." She sat Jimmy down and walked away leaving the two friends frozen in shock.

* * *

><p>After sitting for about 10 minutes Carl let the first word slip out.<p>

"I should've said 'yes.'"

Jimmy looked over at him confused. Carl looked back. "I should've said he could move in."

"Come on, Carl. It's got nothing to do with that."

"Last night he was really-"

"He was drunk." Jimmy interrupted. "We all were drinking. It's no one's fault. He wouldn't kill himself the night before the premiere of one of his favorite childhood classics."

"You don't know how bad it was last night." Carl looked away and put his head down on his wrists.

Jimmy gave him a pat on the back. "Hey, it's not your fault. Trust me."

Carl looked back up to him. "How do you know that?"

Jimmy didn't have a response. He took his hand off Carl's shoulder. Carl buried his head back in his hands.

Jimmy's phone suddenly started to vibrate. It was Carvey. Jimmy ignored the call and put his phone back in his pocket.

A few seconds later the doctor was standing in front of the boys. He wore a white coat, held a clipboard and seemed quite clean and professional.

"Are you two friends of Sheen Estevez?" The doctor asked. Jimmy and Carl simply nodded. "I'm Dr. Miller. I'm looking over your friend. He should be okay."

"What did he do?" Carl asked.

"Sheen just had a traumatic brain injury." The doctor explained. "We believe he simply lost his balance. To put it simply the fall caused severe trauma to the head and rattled his brain."

"So he didn't commit suicide." Carl said relieved but still concerned.

"The authorities are still looking into that. His partner seems convinced that he did. I personally don't believe it. The signs point at this being only an accident. Although try telling that to his partner." The doctor quietly chuckled at that last bit. Jimmy chuckled along with him. "The good news is he's alive and breathing."

"There's bad news?" Jimmy asked catching on to Dr. Miller's delivery.

The doctor took a few seconds before saying the next thing he had to say.

"Sheen's in a coma."

* * *

><p>Dr. Miller opens the door for Jimmy and Carl to enter. It was one of the smaller rooms in the hospital with no windows.<p>

Sheen was laid on a bed, tubes hooked up to his arm and all. He had a large tube shoved down his throat connected to a breathing machine. The hiss of it pumping air was working at a steady pace. The heart monitor made a beep every four seconds.

On Sheen's forehead they saw there was a bandage. He had a black eye underneath that seemed bad enough. It was difficult to fathom that whatever was beneath the bandage could possibly be worse than his eye.

Jimmy's phone vibrated again. He ignored it.

"He really cracked his head open and lost a lot of blood." Dr. Miller explained. "It's amazing he's still alive. We managed to stitch him up good. He should be physically fine when he wakes up."

The sight was truly frightening. When they heard he was in a coma they figured he'd just be laying down asleep, not hooked up to a giant machine for life support.

"If he only hit his head then why is he breathing through a tube?" Jimmy asked.

"He has a collapsed lung." Dr. Miller answered. "How? We don't know. It's a freak accident. I've never seen anything happen like this from inside a household."

Jimmy kept looking at the bandage on Sheen's head. Although he was fully stitched it was covered in blood. Dried up brown blood.

"You said physically he should be okay." Jimmy turned and looked at the doctor. "What about mentally?"

Dr. Miller first gave Jimmy a "bad news" look. "Unfortunately we have no way of knowing that until he wakes up. We don't know how many brain cells he's lost. When he wakes up it's likely he will have bad short term memory. If that's the case he could very well improve over time. But honestly we won't know if there's been any severe permanent damage or if it's temporary until he wakes up."

Jimmy and Carl continued to quietly look at Sheen as they continued to process what was going on.

"I'll leave you two alone." Dr. Miller put his hand on a button against the wall. "If you need me just page me with this button. But only if it's serious."

They both nodded that they understood. Dr. Miller left the two friends standing there. For about a good 5 minutes the didn't move. Jimmy's phone vibrated a few more times and he didn't even take his phone out of his pocket. They had to accept the fact that even if Sheen woke up their childhood friend may not be the same person he once was.


End file.
